Jealousy
by A Reluctant Raconteur
Summary: He had lived for nearly two hundred years and yet in one day Envy was defeated, humiliated and broken. He had survived through sheer luck and one last trick, but the Promised Day has past. He had only one concern now: revenge. However, Father and the other Homunculi are gone. For the first time in his life, Envy is truly alone.
1. Alive

Full Summary:

Envy prided himself in his use to Father, his superiority over humans and his abilities as a Homunculus. But even having lived nearly two hundred years, in a space of a day he had been defeated, humiliated and broken. With a bit of luck and one last trick he is alive, but things are different. The Promised Day has come and past, and with his other Homunculi siblings dead and Father as well, Envy is left without purpose. He has only one desire now, and will go through anything to get what he wants and deserves: revenge.

* * *

It was a performance alright, the greatest Envy had ever done. He had been alive for one hundred and seventy-five years, and it sufficed to say his most recent act was his magnum opus. He had survived. Envy would be lying if he said he had known it would work, in fact he had only mulled over the possibility of it being successful.

In what he had assumed originally to be his final moments he had been humiliated and the brat had pointed out what every one of the sins loathed to say. They were jealous of humans. Envy had the benefits of being one of the oldest of the Homunculus and the one that interacted with humans the most and knew what made them tic. He could read and understand the homunculus more than they would ever like.

Each one was jealous in some way. Gluttony was jealous of their ability to feel full, something he had never experienced nor would he ever. He was a black hole that sucked in more and more things but none would ever satisfy him. Gluttony the Voracious was doomed to never feel satisfied. He may have been too simple to realise it but he did feel jealousy.

Lust, she would never admit it, but she was jealous of the human ability to love. She hated the idea, many times she had raged to Envy about how it was a false feeling merely propagated by the human body to ensure that a male remains with a female to raise their young. She was certain that love was just lust being moulded to better suit the survival of the human race. However Envy could tell, just like when you mess up and you tell yourself that it wasn't your fault, you don't quite believe it. Envy still believed Lust, even in her final moments, probably never truly believed what she told herself.

Wrath, he was in a way the most complete of all the homunculus. Envy hadn't really known him well enough to have made judgements about him. Nevertheless Envy had always noticed that he had chosen willingly to take a wife, when asked by the others why he had merely said "It is the only choice I was allowed to make in my life." Perhaps he had been jealous of humanity's free will, however subconscious it was.

Sloth's jealousy was really quite simple; he coveted what most human's take for granted. Sleeping. For one hundred and fifty years Sloth toiled without break to complete the circle for the Promised Day. For one hundred and fifty years the only thing that kept him company was Pride's shadows which merely made sure that Sloth kept doing his job. Sloth had never said, but Envy thought Sloth resented the other Homunculi for leaving him alone and never allowing him any rest.

Greed was jealous of humanity for a multitude of reasons, and Envy knew that while Greed never admitted it, he did appear to care for them. Envy thought in a way that the other Homunculus was jealous of the ability of humans to be satisfied but not like Gluttony. Greed was jealous of their ability to not want more, there were times where Envy thought Greed was disappointed with wanting more despite having it all. He was irritated that some humans had less than him and yet they were content while he wanted more. But that was the nature of Greed the Avaricious.

Pride, the eldest Homunculus, enjoyed the privileged position he held as the oldest and, loathe as Envy was to admit it, ultimately the strongest Homunculus. His sin was also his greatest reason for jealousy. His confidence and self-assurance was what made Pride what he was, a creature of arrogance. Father's greatest sin. However, although he never admitted it, the first-born desperately craved Father's praise and recognition. He was jealous of humans' who didn't need to feel pride for they were praised by those they held in high esteem.

And what about him? Envy the Jealous? What did he crave and resent humans for having? In a word? Everything. He hated to admit it, but everything about humans Envy hated and so desperately craved. They were able to overlook each other's backgrounds and failings something Father and the other Homunculi could never do. Despite wronging each other they were able to ally and become friends. Father had created Envy as a literal personification and a vessel to hold all of the envy and jealousy he had, so it was no surprise he was the most jealous of all the Homunculi.

And now here he was sat in his weak form and true form, barely alive. He would admit he felt childish pride for still being alive and yet the stinging pain and the humiliation of his defeat with his entire person being laid out for the world to see was still like a red hot poker to his skin. Still, he could overcome this humiliation with time. Although he wasn't sure if he had much.

The fourth-born Homunculus had pulled a fast one so to speak, although it was more complex than that. In his true form he was weak and defenceless and barely capable of shapeshifting. What he had done was ambitious and to be honest seemed impossible to him, he had just used it to justify his suicide. It was like a waiver for him, so he could avoid admitting that he was, in his eyes anyway, taking the coward's way out. He had tried to use his last ounces of strength to transform into dust, giving the illusion that he had died, as the philosopher's stone was an integral part of his body he had also used his meagre reserves to give the illusion that it had been broken. He was certain it would fail and in reality he knew he was committing suicide to avoid dealing with the humiliation any longer. However he used it to give him the final push he needed.

However, he was conscious once more, indicating that contrary to what he may have believed it very much was possible. Envy couldn't believe it to be honest, he was in his true and weak form yes, but he was alive.

The green creature blinked in disbelief before focusing on the red stone in its appendages attached by what seem to be a single tendon keeping it apart of his body and therefore keeping him alive. It was hanging by a thread, literally.

Envy quickly forced the stone into his maw carefully guiding it back and making sure that it didn't snap the tendon that connected it to his body. That would be the second greatest humiliation of his life and also be his last.

Envy stared at his surroundings, he was back where he had been defeated with the signs of battle looking older but not cleared up yet. This told him two things; for one that time had passed, the fact that the Elrics nor Mustang were no longer looking at him with pity and revulsion confirmed this. And two not a huge amount of time had passed. Amestris was efficient; reconstruction efforts would certainly be underway within the month. Especially considering he was in Laboratory 3. So Envy had likely been unconscious from several hours to at most two weeks. The lack of knowledge was irritating him but he was on thin ice at the moment so he needed to keep quiet.

Envy was shaken out of his thoughts by footsteps, boots clacking as they made their way down the stone corridor. Humans were coming, and he needed to make himself scarce or else he would die for nothing. He quickly hugged himself against the shadows and crawled into a small cranny in the wall.

The two soldiers walked lazily down the corridor, they were chatting to themselves excitedly and one appeared to be chewing out the other but without a hint of edge or worry to their voices. This alone told Envy that his lowest estimate of him being out for several hours was wrong. There was no way even the most laid back of soldiers would act this way hours after the Elrics had come rampaging through. If he was to guess, he would say that they had been sent to make sure no one was trying to get in or out of Laboratory 3. Envy stood at the ready poising to seize the opportunity.

The elder soldier walked on ahead before turning to look back and frowning in displeasure at his companion "Damn it Conrad tie your fuckin' laces." He then looked away, likely in disgust of his companion's stupidity.

The younger man sheepishly grinned "Sorry Sarge, I'll get it to it now." He leaned down to look at his laces.

Envy blinked, was it his birthday?

"What the hell did I say about calling me Sarge?" grumbled the other, although there was no real anger in his voice.

The younger man smiled "You said that, and I quote, "If I like you, then you can call me Sarge, but guess what? I don't like you!" That's what you said sarge."

"Shurrup private" grumbled the other "the shit I have to put up with from you."

Envy was already making his way across the ground snaking his way towards the private currently tying his shoes. In his original state he was parasitic, and a host was presenting himself. It was like all of his one hundred and seventy-five birthdays had come at once.

He clung to the private's clothes and quickly but softly climbed his way up the private's back towards the man's neck, if he was too quick and too clumsy he would alert the man and his chance would be forever lost. Although he didn't like it, patience was not only useful it was necessary.

He latched on to the private's clothes holding on to his collar. If he took over while the private was tying his shoe laces there was a chance the man could fall, that would arouse suspicion. He would prefer to get through this patrol and back into the main camp or wherever the soldiers were stationed. He could deal with everything from that point on as it came. When the man stood, yes then he would enter.

The private finally tied his laces and got up smiling oblivious to what was upon his back.

Envy gave off what would be the closest to a smirk he could give in this form and laughed to himself internally.

" _Why don't I just let myself in?"_

The parasite dug itself into the private's neck, immediately beginning to rip into and shred the cerebral cortex moulding it and repurposing for Envy's needs. The man stumbled reflecting his pain and shock of having his neck dug out and something forcing its way in.

The sergeant heard the stumble and turned around "Goddamn it private, what the hell are you doing now?"

The private stared intently at the ground for a couple of seconds as the opening that Envy had made began to slowly mend itself before looking up and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly "Sorry Sarge, I forgot to double-tie it."

"God you are an idiot Walsh, how the hell did you get into the military anyways?"

Envy smirked at him keeping with the act "My devilishly good looks sir."

"Good to know private. Here I was hoping that you were secretly competent." groaned the sergeant although he did look amused.

Envy pretended to double-tie his boots, as the private had done so already, before looking up and deciding to prod for information "Hey Sarge did you hear anything interesting recently?"

The sergeant looked back at him "Well apparently some idiot from 5th battalion fell during a training exercise onto his rifle bayonet. I heard it got stuck in his ass."

Envy stopped himself from groaning "No sir, I mean like anything interesting politically you know?"

The sergeant stopped to think "Well apart from the Fuhrer dying to stop the whole country wide alchemist plot from happening, not much has happened." He looked at him "Are you an idiot seriously? You asked me the same question fuckin' five minutes ago."

Envy smiled closing his eyes "Sorry sir, short-term memory."

"Conrad you would embarrass a goldfish."

Envy was keeping cool on the outside but on the inside he could feel himself getting anxious and the human he was wearing was reflecting that with sweat and a heightened heart-rate.

"And what about those who were behind it? What happened to them?"

"I hear the Full-Metal Alchemist, his brother and Colo- or should I say Brigadier General Mustang killed the ones who were really in charge, and most of High Command has been implicated in the plot and put on trial."

The Promised Day had come and passed.

The plan had failed.

His brother and sisters were dead.

Father was dead.

Envy twitched "The Full Metal Brat and that Flame Alchemist have ruined everything! I should've let Gluttony eat "em when I have the chance!"

The sergeant looked up at him in shock "Conrad have you lost your mind, what the hell are you talking about?"

Envy looked at him with raw rage and reached into the private's holster grabbing the gun and aiming it instantly at the sergeant "Shut up!"

Envy unloaded the 9mm pistol and all of its rounds into the soldier leaving him a sieve. The man hadn't even got to scream in pain he was so full of bullets. He merely looked at him like a deer in the headlights before he gurgled and fell to the floor.

The homunculus wasn't finished and took a knee bringing to down the butt of the gun repeatedly seeing red, a mix of the sergeant's blood and his own rage. He blanked out repeating the gesture until he felt the gun striking something hard.

Envy looked to see that he had completely caved into the man's head and was now smashing the gun into the ground.

He got up and tried to calm himself slightly, it was hard, but he was Envy not Wrath. The Homunculus looked at his vessel and the current state of the Sergeant before groaning "Shit."

Getting into the camp was impossible.

That didn't matter. It was simple, he would seek out the Elrics and Mustang and kill them and avenge the all of the Homunculi. He would take the damn Flame Alchemist and roast him alive. He would step on the Pipsqueak and he would tear up his tin can of a brother and melt him down.

Envy began walking down the hallway heading straight towards the exit with purpose. His brisk pace began to slow before coming to a halt. What the hell was he thinking?

"I was defeated by them in my final form never mind when I am in this form. If I go back to them I will be humiliated again and this time they will roast me for good! No, I need to rest up and heal." Envy muttered to himself as he stopped holding his chin in thought "I am certain I will be able to take my preferred form once again I just need to allow the Philosopher's stone to replenish. I just need time."

Envy knew that every time he possessed someone as a parasite he fed his Philosopher's stone, all it would take was for him to take over a dozen or more humans and he would be back in top shape, well at least in theory that was how it worked. He had never done it before. He had only been in this form three times, once when he was born, once when he was forced into it after his defeat at the hands of Marcoh and now.

The implications of this were beginning to bug the personification of jealousy "Even then I can't face them; I need to increase my power if I ever want to see those bastards beg me for mercy."

He stomped his foot down on the ground and bared his teeth aggressively "How the hell am I so weak? I am over one-hundred and seventy five years old and have killed in the hundreds personally and my actions have caused the deaths of millions and yet I can't kill a fucking brat, his tin-can of a brother and a damn Colonel!"

Instead of calming, Envy was beginning to overthink and was working himself into a frenzy pacing around in a circle holding his head "Why the hell did Father make me so weak? Homunculi are supposed to be perfect, completely infallible! Did he want us to lose? How the hell was he so stupid? Why the hell are the alchemists so strong?"

Envy remembered Mustang burning him to a crisp "Why is he so strong, what did he do to deserve that power? I deserve it, I served Father loyally from my birth until now but somehow I am unable to defeat someone like him."

Envy looked at his hands "I deserve that power, I want that power, and I need that power."

" _You're jealous of us."_

Envy roared and threw the gun against the wall smashing it to bits "I am not jealous of humans. I despise the cockroaches, I wasn't thinking straight when I said that. I will prove it, I will become stronger than all of them and then they will beg me for mercy! They will be jealous of me!"

There was only one way to go about that and it was something Envy wasn't looking forward to but it was necessary.

He was going to have to learn Alchemy.

This was going to be difficult.

* * *

Well, Envy is still alive and kicking and is on a mission to avenge his family. I won't spoil anything, but this story will obviously contain a mixture of new and old characters. It will also cover both Envy in the present and the past, with some chapter being flashbacks to his 'childhood' or earlier years establishing the relationships all the Homunculi had with each other. It will also show how all of the Homunculi felt about Father.

Also while this story will be Envy-centric, with him being the main focus of everything going on within the story, some chapters may focus on other characters if it serves the plot enough. Also be warned, Envy is a sadistic guy, and is, arguably, the most sadistic person in the Full Metal Alchemist Universe. I mean we hand often talk about how evil Tucker was for using his daughter to create a talking chimera, but keep in mind Envy shot an Ishvalan child knowing that it would cause a brutal civil war with a smile on his face. So be prepared for some brutality from him Guys who have watched the 2003 Anime will be happy to know that I have watched it and will draw upon some of Envy's personality from that, however he is still Envy from the Manga/Brotherhood.

That's all I have to say. Goes without saying, but if you feel like it review.


	2. Rebirth

A few days had passed since Envy had made his way out of Laboratory 3, the sewers of it specifically, through a mixture of brute force and cunning he had weaselled his way out of there much to his pleasure. Only two others died a clean job if you asked him. It wasn't exactly on his regular, and professional, level but it would have to do. He had dressed them up to make it look like they had shot each other; hopefully the investigators would accept that and close the case. And if not, he would be long gone before they put two and two together.

As for the other humans he had pulled the pin of the sergeant's grenade, which hopefully would explain away his lack of a cranium. Envy knew he needed to lie low, if any of his killings even seemed vaguely like the work of a Homunculus he would be swamped in a sea of State Alchemists within the hour. As for the private's body, it had been used by Envy to bring him into the slums of Central. Then he had found another host, and then another, and then another.

The slums were layered with a multitude of people each there for reasons either beyond or entirely because of their faults. It was also the best place for him to feed and replenish his energy, no one cared if drunkards, the homeless or Ishvalan refugees turned up dead or missing. Society had already forgotten about them, what did it matter if they died? If their entire existence was only to cling to the dregs of civilisation, then they should be glad that Envy had graced them and gave them a purpose.

He had made sure to make it elaborate, cutting off the heads of his victims and throwing them in amongst the garbage. There were two reasons for this; chief was the fact that even though the hole he made in his parasitic form would heal it left a tell-tale scar on the back of their necks. It was a dull purple indent, with the scarred tissue resembling that of a bite wound. Second was he wanted to disguise his killings as something different, humans wouldn't be surprised by the dispossessed and wretched being killed, murderers did it all the time. Number 66 had bragged about it, telling Envy tales of how when he was "Barry the Chopper" he had slaughtered countless men and women. Envy's murders were just a proclamation that a new killer was in town; hopefully Central would treat them as such.

This led to his current body. A blonde haired girl, dainty little thing, that had either fallen down on her luck and into the business of prostitution or perhaps she was always destined to get into it. Regardless, he had paid her a visit and now she was his mode of transport for the day. He felt the power coursing through his veins once more, and his skin was tight almost. He knew that he was going to assume his preferred form soon; he had killed about thirty-five people over a period of five days. This was more than enough to feed the Philosopher's Stone.

If he listened to his core carefully, he could hear the souls whispering and whimpering once more. It was quiet yes, but it was there as long as he listened to it. Envy knew how to ignore them, after all he was once comprised of hundreds of them, but their incessant noises meant that he was alive. It was like a human hearing his own breathing, it was natural for Envy.

The personification of jealousy felt his feet dragging as his body became more irresponsive. He furrowed his host's eyebrows before muttering to himself "What's going on? Is it time already?" He tentatively touched the back of his host's neck feeling the area where he had inserted himself. It was bulging outward.

"Heh. So I guess I am all grown up again? Lucky me." murmured Envy in delight, smirking to himself. He knew he couldn't rush it. He had never been in this position before; Father had always given him another Philosopher's Stone which did the same thing. He had never gone through metamorphosis before this but fortunately it was an instinct for him. He just knew what to do.

Envy sat down against a wall, and waited. His host's breathing was getting more ragged and harsh, showing that something was going on at the very least. He just needed a little more time that was all. Then he would be well on his way to recovery.

He rubbed the back of his host's neck trying to encourage whatever process his body was undergoing. He felt like a child again, so giddy and energetic. His host suddenly let out a screech which Envy stopped by placing her hand over her mouth, he hadn't done that. What was more, his vision was darkening. It looked like it was time for him to make his grand exit.

The back of the women's neck opened up, as the parasite fell out baptised in a mixture of spinal fluid and blood. It convulsed upon the ground before curling up in to a ball. Slowly but surely a red line of electricity began to pass over him as the body transformed into its more human state growing in size and mass as the creature began to disappear replaced by Envy's preferred form. First the feet, then the legs, the torso, the arms and finally the head; all of his body parts materialised in a glow of light.

Envy stood up curiously poking his arm and chest, checking that he was in top condition before nodding with a smile "Good as new, although I am more drained than I was when I did this with a Philosopher's Stone." He grabbed his hair pulling it out into his familiar style. He ripped a lock of it out to look at it before smirking.

"Green huh? Guess my body has a sense of humour." murmured Envy to himself, he wondered if he should turn it back to its regular black, before shaking his head "If my body thinks I should look this way, then who am I to disagree with it?"

Once Envy was done inspecting himself he knelt down to the women's body "I would say thanks, but really you should be thanking me. At least your life was worth something in the end."

He inspected the alley way it was covered in grime and moss, decaying before his sight. He would have liked a better place to emerge in, a more appealing area, but beggars can't be choosers and as much as Envy hated to even acknowledge it he knew what he currently was.

The Homunculus decided it would be useful to test out his shapeshifting, his arm slowly turning into a curved sword. He frowned slightly "Slower than usual, perhaps I am still exhausted, but the fact I can do anything at all is a miracle in itself."

As if he was suddenly struck with a slap that was the fact he was actually alive he began touching his face for a reality check and smiling in a childish fashion "I am alive! I am actually alive, this isn't a dream!" He laughed to himself his smile blossoming into a grin and he cupped his hands over his face and shouted "Hear that world? I'm back!"

Envy brought his hands back and although his smile didn't fade, he admitted that shouting was pretty stupid. He took his sword-hand and instantly sliced the women's head off before morphing it back and effortlessly picking them up with both hands.

Envy nodded to himself "My strength is back as well, this day just keeps getting better."

He began thinking whilst he was walking. He didn't really have any plans, he knew he needed to learn Alchemy, that was a given. He was confident in his ability, but the lingering feelings of humiliation kept him close to Earth, he knew that he needed to find someone to teach him. He also knew that Alchemy could take at least a year for him to become capable of, at the very least, using it. And that was just for a rudimentary use, never mind the skill that Mustang had with his. He was a homunculus however and therefore he was inherently superior to humans, if the Elric brothers had done it at their measly age, then so could he.

He wasn't going to risk staying in Central however; he would be under the nose of that Colonel turned Brigadier General. That was just asking for trouble. Mustang had been stopped from ending him a while ago, but there was no guarantee he would hold himself back this time especially as no one was there to stop him.

Thinking about the Flame Alchemist brought a phantom burning pain to Envy's eyes and he grimaced holding them trying to gain some comfort. He really wasn't interested in being burned to a crisp again. Being incinerated once was already one time too many for him. And he had been made to feel the searing pain of heating many, many times.

So where was he going to learn? Ishval? God knows if there was actually anybody there anymore, besides, that Ishvalan Scar was going to be there if he was unlucky. The monk was more than a match for him when Envy was in good condition never mind when he was like this. So that ruled Ishval out.

The South Area? He knew for a fact that the Elric brats frequented Dublith and Rush Valley, and those where the only two places in that dust bowl where he could actually learn something useful.

The West Area was a big unknown for him, he had never really frequented the region, and the East had Resembool which again was an area where the Elrics had frequented at least one. Neither seemed rather appealing.

That left the North, which honestly seemed like a pretty good idea to Envy. It was cold and remote, but there was bound to be someone there who could teach him. But the Wall of Briggs both the actual structure and the individual were both a problem. She would slice him up before he even had a chance to deal with her, and even if he did kill her, the legions of soldiers she would bring would undoubtedly be his end.

Envy groaned "Why is everywhere a bad choice, what do I have to do, leave the country or something?"

He stopped, that wasn't actually a bad idea. He knew that the border war that Aerugo and Creta had with Amestris had been encouraged by Father to keep Amestris on her toes and explain the highly militarised society. However Drachma was a different matter. He knew that Father had ordered the construction of the Great Wall of the North specifically because of Drachma. They were an aggressive and militaristic nation that much was certain. The nation was also huge, and wouldn't likely make friends with Amestris even now that the Father and the Military Government was deposed, unlike Aerugo and Creta who would make steps towards rapprochement.

He knew that crossing to Drachma from the North was foolhardy at best, suicidal at worst. The cold wasn't a problem for a Homunculus but the border was so heavily militarised if a mouse sneezed it would set off every land mine in a mile. However that wasn't all hope lost, Drachma was so enormous that the border with it actually extended to the West Area, although it was much less militarised, with the Drachmans trading there bringing in their furs and other things. He knew this as Lust had indulged herself in Drachman fur coats and embroideries a few times. The coats were, according to her, "lavish and full of splendour, comforting and yet somehow sturdy."

She had bought them from a small town called Emzageyy a border town to Drachma. It apparently also linked up with a railway line between the two countries. There was no doubt. If Drachma was so heavily militarised, enough so that even the State Alchemists were wary of them, they must have an impressive Alchemy Corps of some description. All he needed was to convince a Drachman to teach him, and he would be well on his way to scraping Mustang off the soles of his feet.

"So it's settled, off then to Drachma we go." muttered Envy continuing on his way for a few more paces before offloading the baggage he was carrying onto the side of the of the alley. He smiled viciously "Oh, how could I forget? There is a friend I need see before I leave."

He also looked at his naked body before nodding "I need some clothes as well."

* * *

"So how is your sight?" asked Dr Marcoh staring at Mustang noticing the lack of grey in his eyes. He and Mustang had been trying to combine his own extensive knowledge of medical alchemy and the amplifying powers of the Philosopher's Stone to return Roy's sight.

Mustang waved a hand in front of his face, his vision was black but he actually noticed movement as if some shades of dark were lighter than the others. He let out a sigh "It's not back, but I can notice my hand I think?"

Marcoh nodded "That's good. One more dose and your eye sight will return to normal."

The Brigadier-General perked up upon hearing this "What?"

The doctor began the process again "The Truth didn't just steal your sight, he rendered your eyes unusable. I just repaired your eyes, now I need to return your sight. Normally easier said than done, but with the power of the Philosopher's Stone? Child's Play."

Mustang nodded before smiling "Thanks again Doc, don't know what I would've done without you."

"It's nothing, after causing so much death to create these stones, the least I can do is put them to some good use. Besides I owe you my life, as well does the rest of Amestris and possibly the world. You, the Full-Metal Alchemist and his brother are heroes." Marcoh stopped speaking before looking at the Flame Alchemist "I advise to prepare yourself this could hurt a lot."

Roy felt a burning pain in his head which travelled down to his eyes and before he could even understand he was blinded, but this time with colour. The whiteness of the room was overwhelming him. But that was good. He felt like he was standing at the Gates of Heaven.

"Well, how are they?" prodded Marcoh staring attentively waiting for a response.

The whiteness overload began to dissipate and the other colours began to define themselves, he looked at the doctor's face and nodded "Good. Better than good."

Marcoh smiled before giving him a slap on the back "You had best get home and rest."

"Thank you doc, I owe you big time."

"Don't worry about it, now you can see your bride-to-be again." joked Marcoh as he began to clear up his tools "Healing you has taken it out of me, I'm heading back to my home. I'm not needed here anymore."

Roy nodded "You'll always be welcome, you know that."

"I know, give my regards to the Elrics and tell them that they can visit anytime they wish."

"I will, so are you leaving now?"

Marcoh shook his head "Tomorrow afternoon, if anyone wants to visit before I go they can see me in the morning."

"Of course Doctor, good night."

"Good night Mustang."

Mustang exited and looked around sighing in relief for his newfound sight; he saw a black cat sitting against a porch of some building. It was staring at him warily, not a surprise, he had never been good with animals. He got into his car and began his journey back to his home and his fiancé.

Marcoh watched as the man exited before cleaning up the last of his tools. He was feeling content, for the first time he felt as if he had done something truly outstanding. Maybe he was being presumptuous, but perhaps he was on his way to redeeming himself for what he did to the Ishvalans. At the very least the Doctor was glad that his role in the creation of the Philosopher's Stones ultimately came to nothing.

"I think I deserve a rest, I have done enough work today."

So he took off his coat and, too exhausted to change himself into sleepwear, he got into his bed and let the blissful hands of sleep take him.

He woke up what felt like a short time later, but judging by the fact it was pitch black he knew at least a few hours had passed. He felt odd and uneasy so he reached over to turn on the light only to find he couldn't move. He blinked a couple of times.

" _Sleep paralysis? I haven't had this since I moved to my town."_

Marcoh knew there was not much he could do but wait. Sleep paralysis was a reaction caused by the brain but it was something that even the most skilled Medical Alchemists didn't know how to fix. Actual sleep paralysis could only be waited out, although it could be a while.

The Doctor was a little nervous, he remembered the horrendous hallucinations he would get from these episodes. They had gotten worse after Ishval, with his hallucinations consisting of anything from an Ishvalan coming for revenge to God himself frowning at him. The worst of it was when he felt something crawl into his bed; he could remember just after he created his first Philosopher's Stone that he had sleep paralysis that night. He was certain that he had felt one of the people he had sacrificed crawling in beside him and lying in his bed.

And he had that very same feeling right now.

He muttered to himself "It's just a hallucination, calm yourself."

He blinked in surprise, he had never been able to speak whilst he was paralysed, it was impossible. Had it wore off?

He tried to move but he couldn't, and the feeling of someone beside him was intensifying. He so desperately wanted to look, but it was like something in a telescope, so close yet so far away. The fear was strangling him.

He held his breath and listened.

Slow and steady breaths were still sounding.

He wasn't alone.

He gulped, stealing breaths in greedily.

"Who, who are you?"

Marcoh could hear the creature smiling as it spoke.

"Don't worry Doctor, I am just a hallucination."

That voice, he could recognise it anywhere.

"E-Envy?"

Marcoh flinched at the Homunculus rose up from beside him and looked down at him grinning in an animalistic fashion "Bingo."

"You are supposed t- to be dead!" Marcoh spluttered.

Envy frowned and pressed down a hand painfully on the doctor's chest "Sad to see me?"

The explosions of pain rendered Marcoh unable to speak for a moment, but he steeled himself and opened his mouth.

"W-what the hell do you want?"

Envy coyly smirked "Just a bit of fun, after all it was you who destroyed me first and put me in that pathetic state."

Envy morphed his hand into what resembled a flensing knife whilst looking at Marcoh "If you had just played along none of this would have happened." Envy looked at Marcoh whose face was currently reddening from strain. He nodded with a blank expression "Trying to move huh? I bet you just want to do that little alchemical trick that you pulled that last time."

Marcoh spluttered "I can't move, what did you do to me?"

The Homunculus tutted "That spoils the fun doesn't it? Let's just say I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that and put it into a syringe." The Homunculus shook his head with a smile "But it wouldn't matter if you could move your body anyways."

Envy walked out of Marcoh's sight and the doctor began to panic. He couldn't turn his head to look "Why? What did you do to me? Envy? Envy!"

Envy leaned in from above of Marcoh looking him straight in the face with curiosity "Oh, do you really want to know?"

The man didn't say anything but his expression made it obvious.

"I'll make you a deal, you know how alchemy works. The principle of Equivalent Exchange. You give me something in exchange for me telling you what I have done."

Marcoh frowned "What the hell do you want?"

"How about the Philosopher's Stone you were using earlier Doctor? You may as well tell me. I will find it regardless, you are just saving me time just as I will save you time."

Marcoh wasn't foolish; the smirk that was adorning the homunculus clearly showed that it knew damn well where the stone was. He was aware that Envy's satisfaction was tantamount to his survival in this situation so he needed to play along it or else he wouldn't make it through to see the sun rise.

"The soles of my shoes, underneath them." muttered Marcoh wanting to look away but unable to as the creature stared at him with interest.

Without even saying a word Envy reached into his mouth opening it and pulled out the stone Marcoh had mentioned. He smirked "Wrong answer doctor, but I appreciate the effort. I am feeling generous today. So then, time for me to hold up my end of the bargain."

Envy mockingly pulled back the bed covers in a gentle fashion before ripping them from the bed.

Marcoh couldn't look down to see his lower body, but it seemed that Envy realised this using his free hand to push Marcoh's head up to look.

Marcoh nearly fainted from the shock.

His hands and feet, they were not there.

He could feel his body beginning to move again and his nerves were screeching as his body's pain receptors picked up the agony he was in.

Marcoh screamed from a combination of shock and pain, he tried to look away but Envy's grip was like steel. The hammering of the pain was destroying him.

"No Doctor, look."

There it was; that sadistic mirth in his voice, Marcoh struggled and tried to look away again.

"I said look!"

This time there was no mirth, nothing but fury.

Envy growled from behind him "You remember how you humiliated me in the North and made me incapable of moving anywhere. I thought I would return the favour. You reduced me to that pitiful state for the first time."

"Wh-why?"

Envy looked at him in confusion "Why do you think? Doctor you said yourself, I am cruel and I enjoy inflicting pain. I am going to get my revenge on each and every one of you. You are just the first one I decided to go after. It's your own fault Doctor; if you weren't so weak I would have let you be."

Envy raised his knife before looking at Marcoh grabbing him a lifting him out of his bed "Go ahead. Scream. It makes this more fun."

Marcoh closed his eyes; he supposed he was wrong to think he would ever have escaped the consequences of his atrocities in Ishval. No matter how much he tried they had clung to and become a part of him. And now he was getting what he deserved. He just wished an Ishvalan could have done it.

The creature raised the knife and placed it above his ankles "I suppose I'll take what's left of you. I can't wait until they find your body, it will take them a while to identify it, but hey what can you do?"

Envy looked at Marcoh for a second before laughing "How could I forget?" His knife hand morphed back and he reached down to grab Marcoh's sock before shoving it into the doctor's mouth. His hand then returned to the flensing knife "You can still scream, but people hearing that could be an issue."

As Envy was about to begin he heard a whimper from Marcoh, his grin went from ear to ear "Oh doctor, I don't want you to be scared." He dug the knife into the man's skin before pulling him even closer to the point where Marcoh could feel the thing's breath on his skin.

"I want you to be terrified."

* * *

It was a messy job, but Envy had a lot of pent up aggression and anger, he was a wine with a cork on it. The pressure had to go somewhere. The doctor had been an outlet, nothing more nothing less.

Unfortunately for Envy there was now a sack of flesh sitting behind him devoid of skin. Disgusting for some, but a homunculi was made of sterner stuff than that.

Well, they were anyways.

Before they died.

He supposed he was made of the sternest stuff, he had made it this far.

Envy looked at himself and tutted, he was drenched in blood. It was sticking to him like glue; it wouldn't be good to be seen like this. There was no use to his disguise if he was covered in blood.

No worries, there was a shower he was certain. He just needed to wash off and go about getting to Emzageyy.

As he walked into the bathroom, he stopped and cursed. How could he be so stupid, here he was about to walk out forgetting to divert suspicion from him.

He walked up to some of the blood and back to dab his finger into it going back and forth between writing and dabbing.

Envy took a step back and grinned at his handiwork.

 **Amestris may have forgotten this man's crimes, but Ishval remembers.**

The Homunculus chuckled "You still got it Envy."

He then walked back to the shower and began to clean himself up; once he was finished he walked out the front door morphing into a random face and wandering down the street.

He pulled out the Philosopher's stone and looked at it before raising it to his ear.

A symphony of terror sounded from the moans and cries of the souls stuck inside the stone.

Envy smiled looking at it "This… this is a good one."


	3. The Train to Drachma

A large brown haired man frowned looking at the pinned up map on the information board of the train station. He shook his head in potent mixture of irritation and confusion. Envy had assumed to form upon seeing a man get on the train earlier on, he thought it was generic enough to not draw attention.

Envy groaned "Two Emzageyys? Why is there two Emzageyys? Did the humans make a mistake?"

He looked around, trying to see if someone could help him. This was ridiculous, why did humans make things so complicated? It was common sense that you don't have two towns which share the same name in the same area. Even Gluttony would have known that.

Envy caught the attention of an assistant of some kind, who was walking over briskly but with a well practice look of kindness on her face "Can I help you sir?"

Thank whatever divine being there was, now he wouldn't be stuck here all day.

The homunculus put on a pleasant smile breathing an aura of friendliness "Yes you could, would you mind telling me which town is Emzageyy?" He gestured to the map "There seems to be an error as there are two listed."

The assistant, or whatever she was Envy didn't really care, inspected the map and shook her head "No sir, there is no mistake there."

" _You are quite helpful."_

"So why are there two Emzageyys?" queried Envy politely, although he was close to exploding and taking the woman's head off in public.

She looked at him strangely before laughing "Oh I see, Emzageyy isn't a town. It is the name of the railway line. It is the one the Drachmans built for their traders."

Laughing at him, who did she think she was?

He kept up his appearances "Thank you miss, you've been quite helpful."

She waved him away "Oh don't worry about that, I just saw you looking so confused and I took pity. I'm glad I could help."

Pity?

Him.

Envy was giving it his all to not grasp that insufferable and arrogant bitch by her neck and throw her in front of the next incoming train. And it was proving difficult. Very difficult.

She smiled and left, unaware of the fuming Homunculi who was wishing her dead.

He looked at the line again, all he needed to do was ride the train to its last stop, and he would be fine. Not particularly difficult, perhaps the simplest thing he needed to do today. As he turned to leave he noticed that there was a price tag.

" _I don't have any money do I?"_

A quick pat on all of his pockets confirmed this and yet another sigh made its way out the shape-shifter. He was tempted to bang his head off the wall; he didn't even want to know how he could forget to get money to buy a ticket. Yet another oversight.

"Damn it." Envy began grumbling "Where the hell am I going to get the money to buy a ticket?"

He really wished he had gotten an allowance from Father. It was ridiculous sounding, but all of his siblings could get money from Father if they just asked. He just used his alchemy to create money for them to use.

He had never really needed money before; he didn't sleep, didn't eat and didn't go to any social events. The other Homunculus had done so, except Sloth but he was a special case. Lust and Gluttony would often wander off to do things when Father had no tasks for them, usually to go get something for Gluttony to eat and something pretty for Lust to buy. Lust consumed huge amounts of money when buying things, and while Gluttony would eat just about anything, he did occasionally ask for specific food choices and Lust would buy them for him.

Greed wandered off to do things even when Father had tasks for him. Father gave Greed ludicrous amounts of money, but the third-borne was never satisfied. He always wanted more things; he would buy some diamonds or whatever precious thing caught his eye, and would bring it home and drop it into his collection. He would then ask for more money and the cycle would continue. Well it did until he had left anyways.

Pride and Wrath would do things together as 'Father and Son' although Envy didn't know if they enjoyed it or not. They went on social outings to parks or to inspect places to keep up appearances. He wasn't sure if it was true, but Lust had told him the Pride had dragged Wrath off to a carnival once. He didn't believe it, but that was what Lust had said. Envy also knew that whether he wanted to admit it or not, that Pride cared for that tramp of a mother he had.

He never did that kind of thing; he got his enjoyment from all the people around him, he would talk to Lust and Gluttony if he wanted company. Father didn't mind if he brought in some humans to play with. The others had joined him in the beginning, Lust to blow off some stress or Gluttony for some free food. But they eventually left; they had no interest in it. Lust had said she was bored and that Gluttony needed to work for his food, but they stopped coming after the time he had forced the husband to kill his wife. He didn't want to believe it, he had never even entertained the notion before, but did they feel pity for humans?

How the hell did he get so off track? He needed money, and needed it now. So where was he going to get it? It wasn't like the humans were just going to hand it to him.

He scanned the station looking for anything; it was the early morning, so it was busy. There was a chance that a human might have a wallet or something. He could steal the wallet if he saw it.

"Come on. Appear, appear, appear."

There, a human in a waist coat, brown coloured and with black shoes. He was wearing a white shirt, and black trousers, with something hanging from them on a golden coloured chain. A wallet. He was on the other side of the station heading towards what Envy assumed to be the bathroom.

"And there is my ticket out of this place."

The Homunculi immediately pushed past the crowd making use of his superior strength to barge past anyone in his way. There were a string of "watch it"s and "hey"s but Envy paid them no heed. They were getting a pretty good deal, on a normal day he would kill them.

After smashing through the umpteenth crowd of pests, Envy was able to reach the room where the man had gone in to.

He entered casually, walking across the white tiling and approaching one of the sinks. He began to wash his hands staring in the mirror and waiting to see the man again. He was taking his time.

" _Patience Envy, he will come out soon."_

After what felt like an hour, in reality not even a minute, the man came out of one of the stalls walking forwards and heading to a sink. He didn't pay attention to Envy focusing on himself before turning to leave. He gave Envy a passing glance and before looking again.

The man smiled "Heinrich?"

" _You have got to be kidding."_

The homunculi smiled awkwardly "Hey." He waved his hand half-heartedly.

" _This is not happening right now."_

The human looked surprised "I thought you were getting the train to East City?"

" _Shit."_

"Uh..."

" _Think Envy think, you can do this."_

The shape-shifter sighed "I was but some thief snatched my wallet and ticket, I was going to head home."

The man frowned before pulling his wallet out and opening it.

"Nonsense, here take this."

Envy found his hand suddenly filled with money. A lot of money. He looked up in confusion.

"Consider it thanks for your help with setting up my company."

And with that the human walked out.

Envy laughed in delight "That was easy." It was a giant stroke of luck, but he wasn't complaining.

The Homunculus went to the ticket booth and bought himself a 'Journey Ticket'; with this he could sit on the train until it reached the end of the line. It was quite expensive, but courtesy of the human he had met earlier, he wasn't exactly strapped for cash. He knew that the journey could take a good few hours, so if he was going to have to maintain his guise of being human, he was going to have to eat human food.

He felt disgusted by the idea. Him stooping so low as to consume the slop the pigs ate? He was above that, a Homunculus didn't need sustenance. They were adapted to survive through any and everything. They were perfect.

And all but one was dead.

He got into the carriage, momentarily blinded by the sun reflecting off the metal adorning the chairs. The entire carriage was bright, covered in a myriad of colours which blinded him. They jumped out at him, the red, the blue and the purple. With the ornate decorations adorning everything from the tables to the very mats where one would wipe their feet. Even Envy could admit that it was a beautiful sight; he had gone through a lot, so why not indulge himself in the finer things of life.

Lust had always told him he needed to do things that didn't involve torturing and maiming humans, so he guessed that now that they were all gone it was time to take that advice to heart. He really missed Lust. He missed all of them, even Greed.

Why was he alone? He wasn't the one made for this. He was born for subterfuge and deception, and yet he was the one left to get revenge. Father had made him especially to wreak havoc and insight violence amongst humans indirectly, not via actual combat. Any of the other Homunculi were far more suitable than he.

The Alchemists had killed Father, by far the strongest being Envy had ever encountered. His creator was so much more powerful than the rest of them. Even Pride who could reach from Central to the border of the country with his shadows didn't even compare to a fraction of Father's power. And they had killed him.

" _How the hell am I meant to become more powerful than Father? He is the original Homunculus; he was the one who introduced alchemy to this very country. How can I surpass that?"_

Thinking about this hurt his head, he didn't like considering it. He would deal with the problems as they came.

He would sleep. That would work, if it worked anything like how it was after he faked his death, then he would be fine. He would open his eyes and he would have be several hours to a few days in the future, give or take. Like magic.

So he closed his eyes.

And he waited.

And he waited.

This was taking too long; he had been waiting for a full minute now. The idea of sitting here forever trying to fall asleep was ridiculous but was looking a possibility for Envy. He didn't even know if he even could sleep.

What did Gluttony do? He always said that he counted sheep didn't he? God knows why that creature had sheep in his room to count but the animals weren't available for Envy at this particular time. He probably just needed to keep his eyes closed longer, just think of something else.

" _Think of Mustang, think of ripping his eyes out and feeding them to him. Think happy thoughts."_

That wasn't working either.

"Sir could I interest you in a drink?"

Envy looked at the waiter and blinked for a couple of seconds, he knew humans could get drowsy when they drunk things. Homunculus did have similar structures, perhaps the principles were the same.

The shape-shifter nodded as the man prepared to pour him a cup; Envy snatched the bottle and deposited a handful of notes in his hand.

"What type of drink is this?"

The waiter blinked in disbelief before answering "Riesling sir, it's wine."

Envy ripped off the cork and downed it, pouring the alcohol down his throat at record speeds. Before the waiter even realised what he was doing, the bottle was empty.

He licked his lips before smirking at the waiter "Get me another would you kindly?"

"S-sir I must protest. Another bottle wouldn't be healthy for you."

Envy's smirk disappeared and he frowned "Don't make me repeat myself."

The man rushed off to get another bottle, before meekly returning, accepting the payment, and going off to serve someone else.

Envy leaned back, and closed his eyes. Maybe this would work.

And just like that sleep reached up and claimed him.

* * *

 _Envy's eyes opened, he looked around. The darkness of the room was comforting and familiar. He had seen this place a million times over, the distinct throne was unmistakeable. This was his home. He was home.  
_

 _The shape-shifter stumbled forward "Father!"_

 _Envy ran like a man possessed to the throne. He looked over it, Father wasn't there. He had to be here, Father never left his throne. He never did._

 _Envy walked forward and cupped his hand over his mouth and shouted "Father? Father where are you?"_

 _The silence was deafening._

" _Ok, maybe he went out, I mean he is Father. He can do what he wants. The others could be around. What about Lust, where is she?"_

" _Lust? Where are you?" he called out loudly, and yet no answer._

 _Something wasn't right, where was everyone? They had to be here, there had not been a single point in the entire time he had lived here where nobody was at home. Someone was always here._

 _Envy began to exhale rapidly "Where the hell is everyone?"_

" _Greed you asshole, get out here!"_

 _The avaricious Homunculus didn't show._

 _Envy growled in anger "What the hell is going on? Where are they?"_

 _He walked along the corridors of his home, looking for signs of life. What about the chimeras? They couldn't go anywhere._

 _He let loose a whistle, which always summoned them. The chimeras loved Envy; he would feed them extra when he came home with humans to play with. They wouldn't ignore him, not ever._

 _And yet there was still nothing._

 _A deep feeling was creeping up his spine and taking over his mind, one he had only felt once in his life. Fear. He began to pick up his pace. He didn't know why, something indescribable was forcing him forward. He couldn't think properly, he just had to move._

 _He could hear footsteps slowly but methodically following him. They could be that of his siblings, but Envy didn't want to risk that. He didn't know what he was running from._

 _He kept running down the stone corridor, and it just kept stretching longer and longer. He wasn't getting anywhere. He skidded to a stop and looked for something._

 _There was a door to his left, he could have laughed in relief but he was so scared at this point that he couldn't even make a noise. He rammed into the door with all of his might, and came into a small room with a massive stone pillar that defined the room. He could see the other side of the room, the pillar was blocking it._

 _Envy wasted no time and ran round to the other side of the pillar, and saw that it didn't go anywhere. The room was a perfect square, no exit, almost like the room was built around the pillar. He ran around it several times before he stopped dragging his feet along the stone floor. It was the same thing. Nowhere to go._

 _Envy consoled himself "I need to backtrack, must have missed somewhere. That's all." He was aware he was running around a pillar, so backtracking was pointless, but he was desperate at this point._

 _He turned backwards and turning the stone pillar again he noticed a corridor with a blinding white light at the end of it. It was impossible, but he gave up thinking logically at this point._

 _He walked towards it; this had to be the way out._

 _He heard a foot hit the ground behind him, the heel clacking off the ground as it floor whoever it was ground to a halt. He could hear fabric stretching as if someone was pulling a glove tightly around their hand, and Envy felt dread take hold of him._

" _M-Mustang." Envy whimpered, staring at the man approaching him._

 _He had to get away, had to hide. Anything. He couldn't face him, he wasn't strong enough. He wasn't going to die for nothing. He had to live to avenge his family._

 _Click._

 _He felt a burning sensation ravaging across every inch of his skin. It was consuming him; he could feel it eating away at everything he was. It was searing his flesh from his bone, his body roared in agony._

 _He gripped his eyes. They were boiling again. The liquid in them sizzled before they exploded overloading his nerves with a tidal wave of pain washing away every other feeling and thought._

 _But he was so close to the exit. He was just a few steps away, he could crawl to it. But as he gripped on to the floor to pull himself, he could feel the skin on his fingertips falling away. His skin was sloughing off like it was a liquid._

 _His eye's regenerated and he looked to see the man staring at him. He was tired of this._

 _Mustang spoke "Do you feel remorse for those you killed?"_

 _Envy shook his head "I'm not begging this time Mustang, I am not afraid of you."_

 _The General smirked "I beg to differ."_

 _Envy laughed at the apparition "Y-you aren't real, this is just a dream."_

 _The Homunculus stood up and approached the man "I'll get stronger Mustang, and then I'll wear you like the stain you are."_

" _You can try."_

 _And with that the man clicked his fingers again, igniting Envy like a funeral pyre._

* * *

Envy opened his eyes "What the hell was that?" He rubbed his temples trying to soothe the raging headache he had "The bastard is in my head as well?"

He checked the side of the carriage, they had apparently come to a stop, and the relatively few people left in the cabin were disembarking. He grabbed his other wine bottle and got out of the train.

"God damn it." Envy muttered to himself "How am I scared of him, he is just a human! A human. If I so desired I could outlive him, I could outlive them all if I wanted. There is nothing to be afraid of. They are mortal, you are not."

The Homunculus stepped off the train, God knows how he managed to sleep for the entire train journey, but he was grateful.

The town was rather small and rural looking, with simplistic houses thatched and made of stone as far as he could tell, and yet there was a bustling market with easily hundreds of people talking animatedly and waving their hands. It was like watching a colony of ants at work. Embroideries, fur clothes and silk garments were all being traded and handed around for something in return.

"Fur clothes for cheap, from the Drachman fur farms at Naku!"

"The finest Drachman silk straight from Tolsk."

"Pure Vodka right from Novobryansk. Get it now while it's cheap."

This wasn't doing his head any good, the last thing he bloody needed was to hear these vermin yelling at the top of their voices. Still, regardless of whatever irritation Envy could feel, he did feel as if a weight had left his shoulders. He was here; he could cross over into Drachma.

Envy wandered through the market place forcing his way through the wall of people. So this was the place Lust had shopped at? He wanted to laugh. How the hell did she get that tub of lard Gluttony through here? He was a bit bulkier in his current disguise yes, but even he would admit that in his more lithe form he would struggle.

"Excuse me passing through." muttered Envy shoving past; he began altering his form as he made his way through the mass of voices and bodies. He was tiring of this form, he wanted variety.

The Homunculus saw a man bending over, and he couldn't help himself. Before a second thought went through his head he kicked him over. Call him childish, but he did enjoy this kind of thing.

"Heh, he was asking for that." muttered Envy, now having altered into a red haired man with a scar down his face. His clothes were more casual, more like a farmer's overalls, and he was now a bit taller. He was calling it; he had the most useful ability of all the Homunculi.

As he made his way out of the crowd to and a good bit out of the market place, to the point where he couldn't hear them anymore, he lazily stretched "Well, time to get to Drachma."

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to meet a fist which impacted with his face. It didn't hurt, but it had knocked him down and made him drop his wine bottle.

Envy looked down at his wine bottle, now shattered into a thousand pieces littered across the ground.

" _Who has the balls?"_

Envy looked up to see a rotund looking fellow with a large black beard staring at him in fury, but that wasn't what he was concerned about. The blue uniform with golden trim and a white sash around it was what was worrying him. It was personalised, but there was no mistaking it. That was a State Alchemist's uniform.

Envy got up and cracked his neck before dusting himself off "So uh, did you punch me or did you just bump into me? With a body that size I can't tell the difference."

The man got redder, and Envy swore he was about to let steam out of his ears "You fool. Do you know who I am? I am Richard Cromwell, the 'Quaking Earth Alchemist'. You made a mistake kicking me over earlier."

Envy smirked "I can see how you got that name; you are so obese I am surprised the ground doesn't just crumble beneath you. I can guess why you got sent here, Central didn't want to put up with you causing houses to fall down anymore."

The man raising his fist again, but Envy wasn't paying attention; he hadn't had the opportunity to dig into to someone verbally for quite some time. He was going to milk this for what it was worth.

"You know, "The Quaking Earth Alchemist" is pretty good, but I think "The Empty Pantry Alchemist" is more fitting don't you?"

The man swung full force into Envy hitting him solidly on the nose with the force of a sledgehammer.

Envy stared at the hand currently imprinting on his face and grinned "Mistakes were made tubby, mistakes were made."

The Homunculus grabbed his hand and effortlessly threw the man to the side like a ragdoll sending him skidding across the ground several feet. He hadn't even thrown him that hard. The man bounced off the ground like a ball and came to a halt.

Envy blinked and began to hold his stomach while laughing "You fucking bounce, ha-ha. You are so fat you bounce!"

The man got up at look at the Homunculus coolly, having realised that no ordinary person could throw him that far.

The shape-shifter smirked "You're out of your league piggy, maybe you should just give it up. No need to exert yourself. Just lay back down and I'll come over there and put you out of your misery. Hell I'd say if you lay down your body would collapse under its own weight."

The man drew a transmutation circle onto the ground having lost all sense of anger or irritation, sizing Envy up.

"What are you?" asked the man staring cautiously at the creature before him.

Envy transformed into his preferred form feeling his now green hair hit his back "I am a Homunculus human, the last of them."

That still hurt him to say.

The Alchemist's expression said a million words, his shock was radiating from his body.

"And now that I've told you that fat ass, you must know there is no esc-" Envy was smacked to the side by a massive pillar of rock and stone, swatting him like a fly.

The Homunculus' body dug into the ground, before he stood up and looked at the man in a mixture of shock and anger "That was a cheap shot human, you won't get ano-" The alchemist did the exact same thing sending Envy flying once more.

This time the Homunculus didn't gloat, as soon as he connected with the ground he got up charging at the man like a bull. He knew that if he talked, he would only get smacked aside. Mustang had taught him at least one thing; don't talk during battle if you stop to do it.

He needed to close the distance. The man was fragile, he was human. Envy had the weight and power of his true form contained within his body, something as simple as a well-aimed punch could end it. But the alchemist would be hesitant to let him close that distance.

Two additional pillars rose from the ground, both writhing towards him like a snake. He jumped to avoid one, while grabbing to the other and scaling it. He needed to get to the alchemist.

As he leaped trying to judge where he was going to fall Envy met the final pillar which came from underneath him impaling his eye. He could hear the sickening squelch of it busting as the stone entered it.

Envy transformed his hand into a hammer smashing the rest of the pillar and returning to his flight to ground. A shard of rock was still firmly embedded in his left eye. He felt a crack as he hit the ground. Something had broken.

Cromwell wasted no time; he dealt another savage blow directing one more pillar underneath the Homunculus. It pierced straight through him. The blood poured out of the creature's mouth and it looked at him in cold fury.

"You best hope this kills me, because if it doesn't I am going to tear your head out your ass."

Cromwell opened his mouth in shock as the creature forced itself off the pike and launched itself at him. It didn't give up. He transmuted another smaller pillar lifting it and throwing at the creature. It hit its mark taking out the thing's other eye.

The Homunculus fell to the ground again, this time unable to get up.

Cromwell looked on in disbelief; the creature was still crawling towards him, he brought a final massive pillar down on top of the Homunculi smashing him flat into the ground.

Blood pooled out from underneath the structure, soaking the grass and ground in a crimson tinge. There was no way he had survived that. He withdrew the pillar and looked at what was left. He had liquefied the Homunculus, nothing remaining but the blood that had once pumped through the creature's veins.

He was still cautious; information on the Homunculi was new. They had been briefed on them, but not on how to kill them. They were just informed that the monsters had been dealt with.

Cromwell was about to call it a day, but he noticed something. The blood was pooling on the ground, but an abnormal amount was disappearing into the ground. The soil was absorbent yes, but not nearly as much as this.

He got up closer and noticed something that he didn't want to see. A small hole no bigger than his clenched fist was dug into the ground. It appeared to be the entrance to a tunnel, one that got bigger the further it went down. One that was curved.

Whether it was luck or providence that saved him at that very second he didn't know, as he swerved to avoid a bladed hand swiping off his head. It however caught him in the back sending him to the ground in a heap. He knew that even if he had survived, he wasn't getting up from that.

He gasped looking at the creature. It was in a state, both eyes still had the pieces of rock and stone still stuck in it. Its left leg was bent at an unnatural angle, and its right arm was loosely hanging to it. And its jaw was hanging off.

Envy was pissed off to say the least, to think that this ball of fat had done this much damage was humiliating.

He had tried something new; he didn't have many souls to play around with, so he had used his durability to keep moving despite his body's destruction. He had basically told his body to not regenerate and moved on regardless. It gave off the illusion he was being destroyed.

He used his still working left hand to rip the pieces of stone from his eyes. A sickening squelch and bursts of pain made him uncomfortable but he went through with it. Homunculi were made of sterner stuff than that.

He then allowed his body to regenerate, praying that what he had done would work. A healing glow began to cover him as the red electricity repaired every wound that he had taken. Bones mended, and sinew was stitched back up, the tendons in his right arm regenerated and attached to his dangling appendance allowing it to rejuvenate as well. Muscles repaired themselves pulling him back together. His jaw reattached to the rest of his face and healed itself.

Envy listened carefully for two the Philosopher's Stones inside him. He could hear their moaning and crying, there was barely a difference. He usually didn't bother to differentiate between the souls inside him, but he did notice the absence of a single voice. He had done it.

Cromwell stared in horror as the creature gave him a massive smile baring all its teeth before giving him a mock bow.

"You looked surprised. Well, I guess you are wondering what I did there hmm?" Envy walked forward and crouched in front of the Alchemist. He was now in a good mood; he had proved a hypothesis correct.

"How did you survive?"

"You sound disappointed, and if you aren't, you will be disappointed to hear this; a Homunculus can regenerate my overweight friend. Shocking don't you think? But best of all we can continuously regenerate as long as we have the souls left to do so. I didn't want to waste any souls in our little tussle, so I didn't regenerate till the end. I only used one to heal my entire body."

"But I crushed you!"

Envy smirked before turning his head into Cromwell's "I can shape-shift, so transforming myself into something that could get through that hole I made wasn't hard. I was already in it seconds before the pillar came down on me."

The State Alchemist lay back "You were toying with me?"

Envy frowned, he hadn't really. He had given it his all to defeat this slob, and had lost a soul doing it. He should be capable of defeating an alchemist without wasting a soul like that. The humiliation was creeping back again, no matter how many times he kicked it away; it always came back for a visit.

"Yes."

The Homunculus wanted to try out another hypothesis, in his weak form he could absorb others by manipulating the creature's body to better suit him and he could the engulf and digest others to achieve the mass required.

He couldn't do it when he reassumed his preferred form the first time, as his body had achieved the state it required. But when he had done it the second time he had realised something. This wasn't a body that he had hijacked and made his own like with the mannequins. It was an evolved version of his true form. He hadn't turned a body into him; he had instead absorbed enough souls to fuel his Philosopher's Stone so that he could reach a mature form of himself. He had never done this before. His very first body was the result of him hijacking a corpse to give himself shape, before being given souls by Father to maintain the form and access his abilities.

So what did this mean? As far as he could tell, technically his true form was this as well as his smaller or larger forms. This was just the step between his weakest and strongest forms. That meant he may not have lost the abilities he had when he was in his smaller form.

He didn't particularly like doing it, he found the process disgusting, but if he could gain a person's soul by doing it? His power would increase exponentially.

He willed his body to change, and tried to instinctually think of what he needed to absorb the man. His fingers began to morph before turning into what could only be described as wickedly sharp syringes.

Envy looked at the man and laughed "I'm glad I am crossing the border, because after this I am going to have to burn you off. Wonder if I poke you with these will you pop."

The man looked at him and nodded resigning himself to his fate "Make it quick."

The Homunculus didn't know why, but he granted him that mercy. He stabbed him in the head, and he was done with it. He listened, hearing a new voice amongst the other screaming inside of him. It had succeeded.

Envy cleaned himself up before morphing himself back into his red haired form, relaxing slightly. He could at least handle a regular State Alchemist, although it was tough. He was glad that he was going to learn Alchemy, because he still had no chance of defeating Mustang.

The Homunculus crossed the border.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Well, Envy's made it to Drachma now, and this is probably where I can go really rampant. I am well aware that Drachma is based on Russia, I think specifically the Russian Empire or perhaps the Soviet Union considering the non-aggression pact with Amestris, which itself is based on Germany I believe. Since it wasn't really expanded upon in the manga, I will probably go into a bit of depth on how Drachma works. Obviously OCs will be introduced, but this is staying an Envy-centric story, canon characters and the OCs will have their moments but I won't be basing the whole story on their point of view.

I get the feeling that Drachma is a heavily militarised society like Amestris, they got destroyed at Fort Briggs but something tells me that they are far more dangerous than that. Fort Briggs would be overkill if they could destroy Drachma so quickly. After all they are the only nation that Amestris has signed a non-aggression pact with, obviously Central is at the very least wary of them.

Oh and I may as well note this. I am of the opinion, and I think it is pretty obvious, that Envy is the most brutal and sadistic Homunculus. If Envy can kick the dog he will not only do it but he will do it with pleasure. He will do some screwed up things in this story, but nothing than anyone who has seen the 2003 anime should be worried about.

Well anyways, if you want to please leave a review and if you have any questions PM me and I will get back to you when I can. I don't bite, usually anyways.


	4. Knowledge is Power

If Envy was to say what his biggest regret was about coming to Drachma, it was that sometimes you just don't understand the scale of a country on a map. To put it lightly Drachma was big.

It was really, really big.

The entire province of 'Chaykorkuta' as it was known was over three times the size of the entirety of Aerugo, one of the neighbouring countries of Amestris, and by god was it rural. Drachma was poorly industrialised with a lack of railways that showed. That was the route of his problem with Drachma, there were only dirt roads in the entirety of this province, and it would be an understatement to say that Drachma was technologically backward. This was a problem when the country was the size of a bear and its neighbours were the size of small dogs.

But considering that the country had easily came close to ending Amestris in several of the wars that had occurred in both countries' histories, Envy refused to believe that such a country could be so backward unless they just didn't care about civilian technology. Clearly they had tunnel vision; the Drachman Government was entirely focused on war. With such a huge expanse of land to protect, the vermin running the show must have realised that their military ought to be up to scratch or they were going to get stepped on like bugs.

So at the cost of everything else, the Drachmen probably spent all of their money on their military. Or at least he hoped they did, because if they didn't that could mean only one thing.

Drachma and the people who lived in it were window-licking morons and therefore he had wasted a full week of time walking for twenty four hours straight each day.

Fortunately, fate apparently decided that he deserved a break and so Envy had the benefit of being currently on a truck that was heading to the closest village, called "Magnitsk". As it turned out, people in Drachma were remarkably naïve. For some reason or another they were quite alright with allowing complete strangers on to their vehicles and were very much fine with bringing them hundreds of miles for free. That or they thought that they were nice. It disgusted him anyway.

But he wouldn't be himself if he didn't seize the opportunity.

His Drachman was rusty to say the least; he hadn't used it in over a hundred and sixty-two years. The only reason he had ever learned in the first place was in order to impress Father, he had learned many languages that year: Aerugon, Xingese, Drachman, and Cretan among others, including far off languages of those countries not even close to Amestris' borders.

He hadn't used Drachman in actual conversation until now, and the rest had never been used, Father didn't care about the other countries. They were like white noise to him, as long as they kept away from Amestris and let him worry about his own plans, he couldn't give a damn what they did.

"Hey, friend."

Envy looked to see a bearded man looking at him, with a straw hat and black overalls. They were ripped in places and his face showed that he had been working the land for a long time. This was a farmer if he had ever seen one.

Envy hid his distaste and nodded showing that he was listening "Yes?"

The man handed him a rolled piece of paper "Want some?"

The Homunculus inquisitively stared at the object before looking up in confusion "What is it?"

The man chortled grating on Envy's nerves before smiling and speaking "Watch."

He began to puff away at his pipe, calmly watching the Homunculus trying to see if he was following. He took his pipe out of his mouth and smiled again "You look tense, Belomorkanal helps ease the nerves. I warn you, it is quite strong."

This human was underestimating him, if he thought a cigarette would even cause Envy to blink then he was very much mistaken. It wasn't the first time he had smoked; he had done it a couple of times to keep up appearances, only fifty years ago it was completely legal to do so in Central HQ and the rooms had often filled with so much smoke you would wonder if there had been a fire in the building. He had remembered smoking whilst disguised as one of the many aliases he had taken on going about Father's bidding. It wasn't as if he liked them or anything, he just did it to fit in with the rest of the scum.

Although he remembered the only time he could ever get on with Greed without them bickering every five minutes was when the both of them were smoking together, it calmed his nerves slightly. It also made Greed less of an asshole, which was a feat.

Envy extended the cigarette for lighting, and once the man had done so he brought it back and puffed on it. It was pungent yes, but strangely pleasant. He couldn't describe the feeling it gave, it was similar to a kind of vibration through his lungs. It was actually quite relaxing.

He could feel his muscles loosening up, and he looked at the farmer who was smiling. He figured he may as well show his gratitude "Thanks."

Envy went to hand the cigarette back before the man closed the Homunculi's fingers around the cigarette shaking his head.

"No need friend, we all share here. Keep it. How would we Chaykorkutans live if we didn't share?"

There it was again, Envy hated this. Humans helping each other out, he didn't like to admit it, but this behaviour was all too familiar and yet unrecognisably foreign to him. He saw it all the time in the creatures, looking after themselves as a group rather than as an individual. It was a disgusting practice, but it was one he so wished he could replicate.

What?

No he didn't, humans were weak and foolish for looking after each other in such a way. The more you cared for each other, the more likely you would be weighed down like a ton of bricks by them. Father had explained this to Envy; the only one he needed to care for was him and Father, no one else. Not his siblings, not the humans, not the chimeras, only Father and him.

"You from Drachma friend?" asked the man whilst puffing his pipe, although he was the only one asking, every person on the truck seemed to be interested.

The shape-shifter shook his head "No, I am from Amestris."

A heavy set man sat beside him with black hair and a relaxed face to the left looked at him and smiled "Tovarish, the Drachmans were at war with you a couple of weeks ago you know?"

Envy thought for a moment. That was actually true. Why the hell didn't they care? And why did they say the "Drachmans"? Weren't they Drachmans?

He voiced his internal questions.

The elder man frowned and sighed "Not many people in Drachma are actually Drachmans. We are Chaykorkutans; just one of the many people who have come to join Drachma, willingly or not. We don't concern ourselves with the wars the Drachmans have, until we get conscripted anyway. Besides, from what I hear it barely lasted a day before peace was signed."

The heavier set man nodded his black hair matting against his face slightly "We have a saying over here in Chaykorkuta, 'My hut is on the other side of the village, so don't bother me.' We don't annoy those who don't annoy us. We farm here; it is what we do for a living. We fight if we have to or if we are defending our homes, otherwise we could care less about what is going on."

Envy leaned back still smoking; this was interesting to say the least. These people reminded him of that man he had killed in Central, what was his name? Hughes wasn't it? They were quite laid-back, it irritated him that they were so care-free but he could tolerate it. If they were giving him a ride to Magnitsk, he could care less about what they did. Besides if he practiced his Drachman, it would help him when he went looking for someone to teach him.

He felt a tug on his clothes and looked to see a young boy staring at him, blond hair and blue eyes which were overflowing with curiosity.

Envy groaned "What is it pipsqueak?"

"You really from Amestris?"

Envy gave him a look of irritation "Yeah, what about it?"

The boy's eyes were glowing with curiosity and admiration; he was reminding of Envy when Pride would play that "Selim Bradley" act. He began tugging even more "Can I ask you some questions, pretty please?"

He was rethinking his decision to not kill them all.

The Homunculus turned for a moment, and barely paid attention to the boy, however those eyes filled with excitement weren't going to let him go.

The onlookers chuckled at Envy's plight as the shape-shifter turned to look at him "You're going to ask me regardless of what I do won't you brat? Fine, ask what you want."

"Is it hot there?"

"Depends on where you go, the South can be quite hot and the East is very hot as well. The North is a barren ice-field, but the Central and the West area are pretty normal as far as things go."

The boy nodded absorbing the information like a sponge "Do you all look the same? You know white skin like us?"

"No, there are lots of colours all over Amestris. We have Ishvalans along with the descendants of Xingese refugees. They all look different but the Ishvalans are the only ones that ever acted really differently."

And the questions continued for a further five minutes which nearly drove Envy to murder, before the boy's mother saw the Homunculus' distress and intervened

As he took another drag of the cigarette he began thinking to himself. It was odd to say the least, things here were different from Amestris, and the people seemed to take things as they came rather than think ahead.

It just occurred to him that the peasant who was sitting smoking his pipe was humming to himself lowly, and it seemed he was not the only one. Everyone save Envy himself was humming along with the elderly man. This was officially pissing him off, how the hell were these people so happy?

"Tell me Amestrian, what is your name?" asked the humming peasant, his joviality flowing out of him like water.

He looked at him before shaking his head, what the hell did it matter if he told them his real name; they were country bumpkins who would likely not think of him ever again.

The Homunculus sighed before saying his name in Drachman "Envy."

"Envy eh? Do you know how to pray Envy?"

The Homunculus blinked before nodding his head, he had never really needed to pray, he didn't believe in God. But he did know how to pray "Yes, I do."

The man had a hint of hope written on his face "Would you pray with us then?"

He could humour them, he had no clue as to what they believed in, but if this was all they were asking then he supposed bowing his head and mumbling to the invisible man in the sky was alright.

And so he listened, it was senseless murmuring to him, he didn't recognise the language. It sounded like Drachman, but at the same time it was softer and seemed far different, perhaps that was what they spoke here? It was hard to explain how it sounded even to himself, melodic almost like a song and yet so calmly said without any form of emotion.

Despite it seeming to last forever only thirty seconds later everything had stopped. These people, they were truly different to anybody that Envy had ever seen. The complete lack of care they gave to anything around them was astounding, and he didn't mean that in a negative way. They hummed to themselves; broke into prayer randomly, offer cigarettes to strangers as well as transport. Just what the hell type of game were these people playing?

"Why were you praying?"

The old man look wistful as if life was passing him by "We were mourning the loss of my wife, she died two summers ago."

Envy didn't care, but he couldn't sympathise with him because he had no concept of what that felt like, nor could he empathise because he looked down on humans. So he was stumped for what to say.

Envy offered the best he had "I'm sorry to hear that."

The man's smile was now sad "Not a day goes by where I don't miss her, but that is life, sometimes you just have to keep moving. Even if you don't want it to, the sun is always going to rise in the morning, so why shouldn't you?"

This halted all conversation, he had finally put two and two together, these people were a family, and yet they had still let a stranger in amongst them. Stupid, but he supposed that was in their eyes the right thing to do.

He relaxed into the seat he had taken reminiscing; he recalled not too long ago he had tried to comfort Gluttony. He remembered it like it was yesterday.

* * *

Envy sighed; it was difficult with Lust not around. The days seemed longer now; he didn't get to talk to anyone anymore. Lust was the only one he could talk to now that Greed was dead, and she was gone now as well.

His hatred for that bastard Wrath burned with the fire of a thousand suns, how could he let Mustang live? He had incinerated Lust, she hadn't even gone peacefully. No Homunculi deserved to go out that way and yet Mustang had dealt her out a cruel end without thinking about it. And he was walking away from it scot free.

"I am glad I killed Hughes, so that he feels some of what I feel right now. I hope he drowns in his own sorrows, because then I'll be there to look and laugh." muttered Envy as he made his way towards the sewers.

He didn't really know why he was angry, he was more annoyed that Mustang had killed a fellow Homunculus rather than specifically angry that he had murdered Lust. It was a pride thing, only Homunculi could kill Homunculi. Father had said that.

Envy walked out into the sewers, Father had no more tasks for him, and so it was playtime again. He was allowed to go to the surface to get some humans to have fun with, as long as he brought them to his room.

He would have to feed Rex today; his favoured Chimera was a mix between a lion and a wolf. And it was losing weight, five kilos since last month. Envy would bring him a fat one today, that way his most precious pup could feast on something good and get back to his normal state. No creature of his would be weak. He wouldn't allow it.

Envy whilst caught up in his thoughts bumped into a small blob causing him to fall hard on his backside. As he got up he snarled staring at the Homunculus responsible.

"Damn it Gluttony, watch where the hell you are going!"

The younger Homunculus' beady eyes were staring at him with curiosity, and they were noticeably red "Envy, what are you doing?"

"I am going to go get some food for Rex, you want to come with? Lus- uh, I think you need to work for your food. It can't be healthy to eat that much without working for it."

"I'm not hungry."

Envy was almost floored with shock, this was unheard of. Gluttony had been hungry since the day he was born. Him not being hungry was like fire not being hot, or ice not being cold. It just didn't happen.

"Envy, I miss her."

The younger sibling slid down the wall and clutched his knees to his chest in a comforting motion.

Envy stared for a moment before blinking in shock as fluid came down the fat Homunculus' cheeks. Gluttony looked at him pitifully "I don't know what to do, ever since Lust has left my eyes just water. I can't stop it."

Although it was foreign to him, Envy recognised grief when he saw it. There was no doubt, he had played enough humans in his life to spot it a mile away. But seeing it on a Homunculus was strange.

Envy hated it.

He grabbed Gluttony lifting him off the ground with astounding speed and his full force throwing him like a rag doll against the wall. A sickening crack was heard amongst the muffled cry of pain let out by the younger sibling.

The shape-shifter marched over to his brother grabbing his and repeatedly smashing his face into the wall. Each time other Homunculus let out a whine of pain as its elder brother repeatedly abused it.

"Show some pride Gluttony!" roared Envy as he ceased digging the other's face into the wall "You are a Homunculus, act like fucking one!"

"Envy it hurts."

"You're damn right it does; maybe you'll think next time before engaging in such a pathetic and _human_ display."

He threw his sibling to the floor before painfully pressing his weight via his foot on to Gluttony's chest "What the hell would Father think? He raised you to be better than this."

The smaller one looked at Envy in a mixture of pain and confusion "But Father never raised me… it was Lust who looked after me."

This only set off Envy adding even more timber to the raging inferno that was his anger. He got down to his knees before proceeding to beat Gluttony with harsh and heavy blows each hard enough to kill a human.

Envy kept hitting him until the screams had stopped before looking at his younger sibling who was looking at him in terror.

The personification of jealousy spat in disgust, before getting up. He couldn't believe that was his brother, he felt ashamed to know that something so weak could have come from Father.

"What's going on?" queried a childish voice with echoes to it.

Pride was exceedingly confused; he had been heading back to his house with Wrath when they had heard loud screeches coming from this side of the tunnel. His younger brother had suggested that they look personally, he could have just used his shadows, but the younger had insisted.

And now they were seeing Envy savagely attack Gluttony like a rabid animal. He had absolutely no clue what was going on and Wrath similarly looked surprised by the occurrence.

Wrath stepped forward "Envy, why are you beating Gluttony like a dog?"

Envy turned around, and even Pride flinched slightly, that was a face of rage that only Envy could make. Gluttony had said something he shouldn't have, and the jealous Homunculus was teaching him a lesson. It was natural, the hierarchy demanded it.

Father made it the right of all Homunculus to correct their siblings if they were out of line, in order to maintain unity and loyalty within the family. He had done it before; in the earlier days he had been the one that had disciplined Greed when he acted up, and even Lust on occasion. This was the circle of life down here; the weak were made strong by this.

A shadow fell on Wrath's shoulder and he turned to look at Pride.

"You don't understand this Wrath, so let it be. Envy is being cruel so that he can be kind. This will help Gluttony." murmured Pride, as he looked at the insatiable Homunculus' broken body slowly healing. He had never been on the receiving end of Envy's punishments, but he knew that it hurt. Even Lust had been under it from Envy once. Homunculi had similar body structures to humans, and no one else knew how to make humans hurt quite like Envy. After all, it was Pride himself who had taught Envy to be so cruel when the fourth-borne was young.

The Fuhrer looked before nodding and turning to leave. The eldest and youngest Homunculi left quietly.

Envy turned his attention back to Gluttony who was curled into a ball to protect himself from Envy's blows.

"It hurts."

Envy sighed, Gluttony was probably too stupid to realise what he was trying to teach him. Although, he had forgotten about Lust, so perhaps he was salvageable. If there was one thing Father had taught him, it was that pain was a brilliant motivator.

The elder Homunculus turned to leave before noticing that Gluttony was not holding his face where he had been hit, but rather his heart.

 _"_ _Damn it Lust, what the hell am I meant to do?"_

Envy picked up the fat homunculus again; who flinched before Envy gingerly placed him against the wall. He then took a seat beside Gluttony sliding beside him.

"Gluttony, did I ever tell you that you weren't the first one to go around with Lust?"

"I wasn't?" asked the younger one in a childish voice, having calmed down slightly as Envy seemed to not want to hit him anymore.

"Before you it was me, when I was growing up Lust was the only other one who would give me the time of day. You see, when I was born, Father needed me to mature quickly. He was trying to engineer the invasion of some neighbouring country of Amestris, whatever the fuck its name was. He created me to cause an 'incident' kinda like Ishval, you remember that don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, to do that I needed to be ready by the end of that year. In order for him to teach me I needed to mature within the month."

"But, I took ten years to do that." protested Gluttony staring at Envy intently.

"And Pride took forty, see it doesn't really matter. With enough Philosopher's Stones anything can be done. So anyways I stuck around Lust and she taught me the ropes. I was still with her until you were made. You remember how I hated you when you were growing up?"

Gluttony nodded, but Envy said no more. He wouldn't lower himself to say the reason why, but even Gluttony could put two and two together.

Gluttony began crying again "I really miss her Envy, we can't even get her back."

The elder one sighed before nodding to himself "Thirty minutes."

The younger looked up in confusion wiping his tears away "What?"

"You have thirty minutes to let it all out, I won't say a thing. It stays between us."

Gluttony blinked before nodding slowly and beginning to cry again, developing into a wail that expressed everything the Homunculus couldn't say.

Envy stared at the water passing alongside the walkway they were on. He, Lust and Gluttony had gone along together for nearly a hundred years, and now one was irreplaceably gone. He felt empty.

Envy nearly jumped as he felt Gluttony's arms wrapped around him, he irritably looked at the younger one before seeing that he was still crying to himself. Envy exhaled before repeating a motion he had seen the humans do when they were dealing with grieving relatives.

He slowly rubbed the back of Gluttony's head trying to calm his brother; before he even knew it Gluttony had quieted, just breathing against Envy. It was difficult to believe that this was the same creature that had eaten hundreds without mercy.

He felt a really dull ache in his chest, one he had never felt before, and he really didn't like it. He wished Lust was here.

Envy didn't know how he felt about Gluttony, but seeing him like this was enough to make Envy reconsider any negative thoughts about him. He was just a child really, his little brother.

"Envy, thank you."

Envy looked at him indiscernibly before nodding slowly "You're welcome."

Gluttony would have to keep definitely have to be quiet about this; if Father even knew that Gluttony was showing this kind of weakness then he would be melted down and remade again within an hour. He didn't want Gluttony to go through that, Lust wouldn't have wanted it. He owed her that much at least.

"Envy, I love you." muttered Gluttony gripping him tighter.

Envy couldn't reciprocate, he knew that Gluttony loved him like any brother should, but he could never ever reciprocate. He wasn't allowed to. Every Homunculus was allowed to have their own emotions except him. He was meant to want to have ones. This was how he was created; this was how their family was meant to work.

To be envious was to want what you could never have.

"Yeah, Gluttony I know."

He really wished that this pain in his chest would go away. It wasn't like a wound or sharp pain; it was like something was absent.

 _"_ _Lust why did you leave us alone?"_

* * *

Envy opened his eyes as he noticed the elderly man from earlier shaking his shoulders "We are here friend, come on."

He stretched slightly before jumping off the back, he was finally here.

"Hey, I meant to ask you earlier, what are you here for?"

Envy cracked his neck before answering "I am looking for someone to teach me alchemy, I don't suppose you know any?"

The Chaykorkutan stared at Envy for a moment before his eyebrows furrowed in an intense show of concentration. It was like he faintly knew what Envy was saying, like a half-remembered dream, but he couldn't describe it.

"Alchemy?"

Envy tried describing it "You know, stuff that no normal person could do, making something completely different out of another thing."

The old man nodded "Hmm, there is one who could teach you Alchemagiya; he lives in the mountain to the north."

Alchemagiya? Well regardless of what they called it over in Chaykorkuta he needed to find that man. All he needed to do was convince the man to teach him, and he would become more powerful than ever before.

He was pointed to the road, and Envy followed it to the mountain. It was large, jutting into the sky cutting the air like an affront to God; there was a road up it. How the hell did a human live up here? This was the kind of place Father would consider excellent home material.

He trudged along the mountain; he had noticed that the path was relatively underused. And by that, he meant that it looked like nothing living had stepped on it in years. Technically if you counted the lack of an actual soul, Homunculi weren't really living either. So Envy guessed that by all rights even now nothing living had stepped on the mountain.

He was tempted to turn into some animal, but it would make little to no difference in this weather. He knew he was in for snow at the upper ends of the mountain, so he reasoned that his preferred form was the best for this.

Not a disguise either, if he was going to learn alchemy then he was learning it in what he considered his true form. He was the last of his kind and he would be damned if he was going to cower pretending to be something he was not. Pride wasn't around to feel proud for the Homunculi so Envy would have to do it for him. He obviously wouldn't tell the man he wasn't human, but Envy was not going to pretend to be someone else.

After an hour of walking up the hill, he reached what he assumed to be the house of the man. It was unimpressive, little more than a large wooden shack that was put together with some old fashioned know-how and likely a lot of good luck. Honestly, Envy was tempted to see if he could walk over there and blow it over like that wolf from a children's story he had read once.

Envy paced towards the door muttering to himself "What the hell do I say to him? Please teach me alchemy?"

Well, he always did like to improvise, so he supposed he would roll with it. There was no time like the present.

Envy knocked on the door and stepped backwards and looked up to see the man who had opened.

He was built like a bear, his wide shoulders almost stretching past the doorframe. He had a height and muscle mass that would impress even Sloth. The man's grey hair was ragged and unkempt, whilst his beard was also in a similar state. He looked more like a wild creature than human, although he was dressed in some kind of black robes. Was he a monk?

The man's pale face stared in confusion at him before looking at Envy's bare midriff and clothes "You look like a stripper."

Envy bit back immediately "And you look like a fucking retarded bear."

Suddenly all hostility the man was showing was gone and he let out a great laugh as his wide shoulders shook before smiling at Envy "Well met, it takes balls to talk to me like that. And considering you walked all the way up here to meet me, I think you at least know who I am."

 _"_ _Why do I always have to deal with the psychopaths and idiots? All I ask is for one, just one to act in a tolerable manner. Is that too much?"_

"So what the hell kind of creature are you, and what do you want?"

Envy's eyes widened in a display of shock "How the hell did you know?"

The man looked at him with a cocked head "It is simple; I can't feel your heart beating from here."

Envy felt a breeze go across him, but it wasn't normal, it was something different. It was too controlled; nature didn't work in straight lines.

Envy nodded in understanding "You are using alchemy aren't you? That is how you are doing this."

The man waved his hand and a breeze of wind came by lifting up a handful of snow before dragging it away. He looked at Envy "I am capable of wind alchemagiya along with many other forms, and the fact you have come to me suggests that you want to learn yes?"

Envy nodded staring at the man's hands, that power could be his. All he had to do was get this man to teach him, screw whatever self-importance Envy had. If he had to bend over backwards to get what the man had, he would do it.

"Yes."

The man stroked his beard in thought before stepping out of his home and sizing up Envy with a perceptive and penetrating gaze "Why?"

"I want to serve Drachma's army." Envy lied. He didn't know if this man actually cared about that, but he hoped he would accept his reason.

"Well, I do have a soft spot for alchemagiyans who wish to join the military. There was once a time where Drachma possessed legions as far as the eye could see of strong and determined alchemagiyans willing to spill rivers of blood for our nation. Now our government's stupidity has ensured that we are a dying breed."

The bearded man began to step back before smirking slightly "I'll cut you a deal boy, you get a scratch on me, and I'll train you. You don't, and you can walk your ass back down that mountain. I am in no mood to deal with a failure. You prove to me that you are worthy."

Envy nodded slowly positioning himself into a better stance, he didn't really know how to fight in an effective way, but he needed to make sure he seemed competent. This man was, as far as Envy knew, the only person who could teach him for hundreds of miles, he could not fail. The Homunculi's revenge demanded that he succeed.

Besides, he was just a human; the worm wouldn't be able to dodge a sustained assault from a superior being.

The Drachman got himself into a stance before beckoning for Envy to attack.

 _"_ _Your funeral."_

Envy lunged at him like an animal, raising his fist to hit him, only to find that he wasn't even going where he had been aiming. He fell harmlessly into a pile of snow.

Envy sprang up, noticing the man grinning at him cheekily. He roared and charged again, perhaps faster than the man had anticipated because the Homunculus was in striking distance.

Envy let loose a barrage of blows aiming for areas where he was most likely to land a hit only to find that with uncanny speed and perception each and every one was dodged by the alchemist.

"You are quite fast, but you lack discipline or clear order to your moves. Your technique is sloppy to non-existent." commented the man ducking under a sweeping hit from Envy.

 _"_ _Why the hell can't I hit him?"_

Envy leaped back and stared at the man for a moment trying to figure out what was going on. His opponent was staring at him in approval as if he were impressed by the decision.

"That's good; if you cannot defeat an opponent take a step back to think."

So he reacted well to fast moves, perhaps slower and more powerful ones could work. Envy hoped the man was durable, last thing he wanted was to kill him.

Envy approached quickly, but in a more orderly fashion, acting as if he were preparing to box him rather than tear him to shreds as he normally fought.

The man saw the punches coming and dodged them, before swerving from a much slower but heavier hit. He took another step back and smiled "I see, that was a pretty good move; distract your opponent with a volley of fast moves before following with a heavy-hitter. Not bad. But you haven't even touched me."

This was pissing Envy off, how dare this worm mock him? He was superior to the humans in every way; the man was just using cheap tricks.

Envy stared at the part of the mountain, he was on a relatively flat area at the moment but if he could force the human to back into the actual face of the mountain? He could probably make him take a hit. He only needed one.

This time Envy started hitting him as fast and hard as he could each attempted blow driving his opponent back towards the mountain.

The man met Envy's fist with his palm causally redirecting the Homunculus, before noticing what Envy was doing. This also got a good reaction from him "You have decent ideas, but it's like you have never actually used them before."

The man was backed against the side of the mountain, Envy smirked. There was no escape now.

Envy let forth his most vicious volley yet, letting lose the dogs of war as he attacked with a myriad of rapid and powerful blows. This was speed that only a Homunculus could ever hope to match. No human could ever evade a fist coming at them each second; he would overload the mortal with his attack.

Envy's hand met the cliff face, and it met it again.

And again.

And again.

Each hit left massive craters against the cliff face causing Envy to dig his hands further into the wall. Before he even knew it he had basically dug into the wall, and the man who had dodged his hits without effort lazily crouched under his arms as if he was above this.

The man let out a whistle staring at the damage Envy had wrought "Damn, for someone your size you can certainly cause a lot of damage. Now I am sure you aren't human. No man leaves craters in solid rock while punching if they don't know alchemy."

The immortal stared in shock "How the fuck?"

The man came up to Envy without fear, he knew the Homunculus' fists were stuck "I am an alchemagiyan, I don't know what shitty excuse you have for alchemy over there but if you are considered a threat then they must be poor."

Envy ground his teeth together before thinking to himself calmly. He was so close to him, he could get his hit right here.

The man stared at the Homunculus' form tutting to himself. The boy clearly had no control over his anger; he was shaking at the very moment. He was like a bull, powerful physically but ultimately with any amount of practice or skill he could be avoided and defeated.

The Homunculus suddenly brought his right arm out the rock in a sideways motion as if he were cutting through it aiming straight for the man's face.

Even when surprised he easily evaded the blow ducking under it, before jumping away from another sweeping move done by Envy's feet. He felt a small sting. He looked at his leg.

He was cut.

Envy stared breathing heavily in exertion, before staring at the man whose face was like that of a child on Christmas. He was glowing with joy staring at Envy.

"You cut me." he began to mutter to himself in a combination of awe and also pure delight as he stared at the small incision on his leg. He looked up at Envy "You actually cut me. Boy, no one has ever laid a scratch on me since I learned alchemagiya and I have lived dammit."

Envy looked at him for a moment before it clicked "So you didn't plan to teach me at all?"

The man didn't even bat an eye "Yes, but this changes things."

The human extended his hand to Envy "My name is Kruchinkin Vadim Fyodorovich, but just call me Vadik. It is easier that way."

Reluctantly and with some suspicion Envy grasp his hand "Envy."

Vadik gave a firm shake before speaking to him "Well Envy, I can tell you aren't human, but you can tell me all about that over tea. We Drachmans love tea." The man turned to enter his home gesturing for Envy to follow him.

He didn't want fucking tea.

"And yes you are having tea whether you want it or not, if you are going to be serving Drachma you better damn well act like a Drachman."

Envy sighed, before following the Vadik. He might be slightly eccentric, but if this man was going to give him the ability to beat Mustang and the Elrics, then he couldn't give a damn.

As Father always said 'Power is worth more than anything in the world, so you must give everything for it.'

He would do anything and give everything. He would have that human's power if it meant he had to sell his soul.

* * *

Well, Envy's found who is going to teach him and therefore I can begin to build up Envy to the point where he will return to Amestris. I think it would be good to focus on some of the heroes of the show as well, so next chapter will probably focus on what they are up to. I figure that I will fill in on what has been going on with Mustang and the Elrics. As always if you feel like it leave a review.


	5. Greetings and Farewell

Brigadier General Mustang sighed, idly tapping his pen on his paperwork in an act of boredom. He was grateful for his promotion, make no mistake, and he was thanking whatever God there was that he had his eyesight back; however the new job came with far more work than his last. When he was a colonel he had personally seen and had to do mountains of paperwork as tall as a small child. He was no stranger to the arduous task of signing documents … but that did not stop him from cowering before the monstrosity on his desk which made him want to run away with his tail between his legs.

"Lieutenant, do I have to do this?" groaned Mustang his face slumping down onto the desk. Keeping his head upright was as futile as attempting to finish the work.

Riza's eyes cold and uncompromising gave him no quarter "You and I both know you have to finish your work. Ed called about an hour ago so you probably have about five minutes to get through the rest before he shows up."

Another groan was emitted before the man nodded. Five minutes. Five minutes was all. Yet looking at the imposing monster composed of paper and ink on his desk was enough to make him want to fight Bradley with a toothpick blind instead.

He began absently reading over the documents signing them or correcting them with the dexterity and speed only many years of practice could grant, those years of practice unfortunately also meant that lots of free time had been sacrificed as well. That was something he regretted now. What would life have been like if he had kept out of the military?

Soon enough a knock was heard and Mustang's head rose sharply hopeful for reprieve "Is that them?"

The lieutenant sighed and checked before nodding "It's Edward and Alphonse."

The two blond haired boys walked in, and Ed frowned slightly at Mustang "You know Colonel, being old friends and all. Was it too much of a problem for you to have well, met us in the city?"

Mustang pointed his pen at Riza "I would but she wouldn't let me."

Ed let it go; tangling with Hawkeye was something he didn't fancy when he was an alchemist never mind his current powerless state. Al seemed happy looking at the two, it had only been two weeks so he was still getting used to having a body again. It was great looking at his friends with his own eyes.

"So uh, what do you want Brigadier?" asked Ed, suddenly feeling very awkward, he wouldn't admit it but it was sad to see the pair. It reminded him that although he and his brother had got what they wanted they had also lost many things as well.

Mustang cleared his throat "Two things. First I want to say goodbye."

Roy looked at Ed with a bit of melancholy as the boy frowned, without Fullmetal things would be quiet around Central. It would be hard to get used to, he had hated the noise at first but honestly he had grown used to it over the time Edward and Alphonse had been there. The Elrics were an acquired taste, you didn't really like them at first but over time they grew on you.

Ed's frown suddenly busted into a devious grin befitting a crocodile more than a human "But Mustang you won't be that lonely." He pointed to Riza "You got the Lieutenant to keep you company, I hear for the rest of your life."

Alphonse's smile grew bigger, genuinely delighted to hear this.

The military man blushed red before spluttering "Who the hell told you that?"

Ed's grin seemed to only grow bigger "Who told me? Who told me? Who didn't tell me is a better question. Even Sheska knows about it."

Roy sank low into his seat "I think I want to go home now." He looked at the boy "You know the rumours aren't true."

Riza spoke up "They aren't exactly wrong either."

A look of betrayal from Roy was ignored by the woman as she continued to talk to Edward "The Brigadier and I have been talking about it."

Something that could be described as both a hiss and a squeal came from Mustang before he shook his head "That is beside the point; these things are to be discussed in private."

Ed smirked "But we are in private, you got your best buddies and your bride-to-be. What more do you want?"

"I will roast you Fullmetal, don't try me."

Riza blinked and looked at Ed "So have you proposed to Winry yet?"

This shut up the blond haired boy who looked at her in shock. There was no honour among thieves, she had been with him seconds ago and she had turned on him in an instant. Woe was him.

Al looked at Ed "Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, he mentioned he was thinking about it."

"Oh. Here you are coming in to tease me when you are going to be having fun with that mechanic of yours. I know why you picked her." laughed Mustang glad that the tables had turned.

"Why?" asked Ed, oblivious to the fact he had confirmed he was thinking about it and also blind to the trap he was falling into.

"Because she is the only girl you are taller than."

Ed's head swivelled staring at him "Who the hell are you calling small?"

Mustang feigned looking around the room before pointing at Ed "You shrimp; sorry couldn't see you there for a second."

The boy growled and got up off of his seat looking ready to lunge, before Al grabbed him forcing him back into the seat. Ed growled in disbelief, he hadn't worked up the courage to ask her yet; it could take another year or two. And yet here were people annoying him already.

Al spoke up after calming his brother "Well, it was nice to talk to you, but my brother and I know there is more to this than simply saying goodbye." The youngest Elric frowned slightly "We went to see Dr Marcoh two weeks ago, but the military and police were outside his house, what happened to him?

Any form of mirth or good will had evaporated now, Al could tell from the hard look on Mustang's face that something terrible had happened.

"He's dead."

Ed shook his head in disbelief "He can't be! Dr Marcoh was ok just a couple of days ago, and he wasn't sick."

Mustang pinched the bridge of his nose before nodding "Lieutenant, make sure no one is listening in."

"Yes sir."

Riza stepped outside to keep watch, she was aware of everything, and people were being kept mum even inside the upper echelons of the military. If the story were to break to the lower levels and to the public, the Fuhrer Grumman's reforms would be halted.

As the door closed Mustang spoke "Someone killed him two weeks ago, we don't know exactly who but we do have an idea why."

Ed and Al were silent; none of them said a word. Dr Marcoh had been a good friend to them and had helped them a lot, for someone like him to have been killed. Why?

"Someone painted on the walls that "Ishval remembers" so we are currently treating it as a result of an Ishvalan revenge attack, I am calling Scar up from Ishval to talk about it with him, see if he has any ideas."

Ed leaned back in thought, an Ishvalan? He supposed it wasn't out of the question; chances are that Scar wasn't the only one capable of alchemy; even then it was possible Marcoh could have been caught off guard. Even the most powerful alchemists could be killed when surprised.

"How did he die?" asked Al trembling in either anger or sadness.

Mustang was caught between a rock and a hard place. They had seen horrible things, but did they really need to know how he had died? Even he was sickened to see what had happened. Whoever had killed Marcoh had treated him like a deer, skinned alive and all. It was horrifying, he was going to find who had done this and make them pay.

A grimace indicated that Mustang was still undecided but he nodded ever so slightly this was something he wouldn't tell them "Someone slit his throat."

"They what"? roared Ed standing up, his body shaking in rage.

Alphonse tapped his elder brother on the shoulder lowering him slightly on to the chair "Brother calm down, there is nothing we can do at the moment."

"He didn't feel any pain, he probably died quickly in his sleep." lied Mustang, sometimes there was a limit to what you could tell even your own soldiers. A white lie was better than the truth in this situation. He coughed to clear his throat "I just wanted to ask you if you had seen anyone suspicious, I know you probably haven't but what other excuse did I have to tell you about Marcoh?"

Al nodded in understanding "No we haven't sir, but we will be on the lookout for any Ishvalans."

"Not a word of this can leave this room, if the public finds out another Ishvalan is killing alchemists then the opinion of them will decline again. Fuhrer Grumman is trying his best to rebuild Ishval and is going to pass reforms to make it happen; he can't do that if the public doesn't support it."

"Alchemists?" queried the elder brother. He blinked in disbelief "You mean that the Ishvalan has killed more than one?"

"At this point we don't really know, but another alchemist has been reported dead in the West area, I haven't seen the body so I don't know if they are linked. But, I would bet on it."

The Elric brothers shared a look of concern before nodding solemnly to each other. Ed stood up "We'll do what we sir, Al and I won't stop until we find this bastard and bring him to justice."

Roy frowned before shaking his head "You'll do nothing Fullmetal, you aren't capable of alchemy anymore and both of you have resigned anyways. You are just going to have to leave it to the military and the police."

The boys look disheartened but accepted it. They had chosen this, besides Mustang was right, what could they really do?

Roy stood up and smiled slightly "Don't be so down Fullmetal, I heard you are off to West to study more about alchemy. You've earned a break, relax and see the sights for once. And Al, enjoy having a body go do things you never have done before, it time you boys acted like kids for once. Let me tell you something, wish your life away wanting to become an adult and the rest of it will be you wishing you were a kid again. What is currently sitting on my desk is all you have to look forward to."

The brothers nodded before getting up, a final note of goodbye wasn't necessary, the two were well aware that this wasn't the end. This was the point at which the brother's and the military's paths diverged, but they knew their paths would cross again. It was certain.

"We will be seeing you around _Colonel_ ," smirked Ed, getting up and stretching both of his arms "and you and Hawkeye would make a great couple. I mean she already does everything for you anyways. You are so useless you couldn't survive without her."

The brothers went to the door and a slight chuckle from Mustang let them know that he had taken their opinions on board.

Ed waved goodbye before nodding to Riza and walking out with Al as they both trudged down Central HQ. Ed looked around taken in the building for what felt like the last time. There were a lot of memories here; after all he had spent a good portion of his life in this building. He sighed "So this is it Al?"

"What are you talking about brother?" asked Al with a small twinkle in his eye. "This is just the beginning. Mustang is right, we are heading off to Winry and you are proposing to her immediately, no delaying. You love her, she loves you. What else matters?"

The elder brother blushed scarlet "Y-yeah, I guess so."

A small pat on his shoulders from Al was enough for him to get the message.

" _Guess I am going through with this quicker than I thought I was."_

* * *

"So why am I doing this again?" shouted Envy, as another slab of rock smacked into his face.

His teacher stopped to look at him before carefully grinding yet another rock out of the mountain using his alchemy. Once sufficiently blunted and dulled he looked at Envy "If you cannot dodge a rock thrown at you from twenty metres away, then how will you ever hope to dodge attacks from alchemists?"

Without warning another rock came Envy's way which he barely dodged before looking up and getting to intimately know the next once Vadik had thrown. He fell to the ground from the shock of being hit.

Envy sat up and rubbed his face in a soothing fashion" You bastard."

The Drachman shook his head walking over to the downed Homunculus "Get up you weakling, we haven't even finished warmups yet!"

A month of this.

Envy was not exaggerating when he said this way undoubtedly the hardest month in his life, Vadik didn't mess around. The Drachman was obsessed with making him better, which was good, were it not for the fact Vadik was as subtle as a train. His response to Envy failing was to just beat the shit out of him, before making him do it again. He was taking advantage of Envy's status as a Homunculus.

The Immortal looked at Vadik for a second before seeing the small almost imperceptible movements in the air.

" _Oh shit."_

Envy leaned backwards before launching himself into the air and out of the way of Vadik. In a show of acrobatics he twirled before landing on his feet. The benefits of a superior body and a month's training he supposed.

He immediately began speaking "I'm up ok, don't do that again."

Last time he hadn't gotten up Vadik had twirled him around using his control of the wind for a full three hours like he was a toy. The man had gone inside, made tea, and then went down the mountain to get supplies. All while Envy was still spinning. That told the personification of Jealousy one thing. He was dealing with someone who was far more powerful than any alchemist he had ever faced save maybe his Father.

He was glad that he was being taught by him. If the Drachman decided to fight him, then Envy wouldn't last a second before he ceased to be.

"Good, again then?" inquired Vadik stroking his beard in thought. The man was already rushing thousands of ideas through his head on how to improve his student, Envy despite being as headstrong as a bull was surprisingly a voracious learner. He did not require sleep, so Vadik had the luxury of training him for twelve hours every day and then allowing him to do theory exercise whilst he got some shut eye. It was brutal for him, but it gave him a purpose he had not had for a long time.

The Homunculus was advancing at a lightning pace, the Drachman had trained several people in his lifetime, and had seen prodigal alchemagiyans in his time but none matched Envy's rate of growth. He was able to tap into Alchemagiya's power and understand its principles with ludicrous ease, he had not told him that however. It would go to the boy's head. Humility was important for the Homunculus' continued growth.

Envy was only capable of lifting a rock the size of his hand with wind alchemagiya, which he had been quite vocal in expressing, was not worth 'fucking shit'. It had taken Vadik two years to learn to lift a pebble.

If the alchemagiyan was to guess the reason for Envy's astounding rate of growth, he would point to the Homunculus' core. A Philosopher's stone made him tap into the principles of Alchemagiya far more easily than any average person. It was interesting to see in action, Vadik could certainly make something of this maelstrom of energy.

Envy wiped some blood from his face before nodding "Yeah, go again."

Vadik threw yet another stone at a blindingly fast speed, before grabbing several others within a second carving them and sending them to meet the Homunculus. Improving the Envy's reflexes was necessary for his growth; if he could not dodge attacks then he would be unable to engage any alchemist. Regeneration was useful, but it should never be the only way to deal with an opponent's attack.

The ability to absorb and endure was powerful, making one a titan on the battlefield. But the ability to manoeuvre and evade on the battlefield made you a God.

Envy saw the first two coming and judged quickly where they were coming from specifically and therefore where they would go. He had never exactly been the best fighter, after all it hurt to be injured, but he very quickly learned how to dodge because those rocks really hurt. Practice made perfect and he had been practicing a hell of a lot recently.

The first one flew straight to his eye and so Envy immediately ducked as far down as he could keeping his eye on the second one which was now on his level.

He needed to judge this correctly or else the rock would stab his eye. Hard. And it would fucking hurt.

As soon as he felt the other rock pass over him he immediately stood on his hands and propelled himself upwards to dodge the second one. Then curved himself twisting around the third with ease at superhuman speed. He had to say he was getting good at this.

The fourth one came flying directly at him, much larger and also faster than the other Envy had no choice but to hit it using his hands as leverage to swing himself downng his full strength into his legs and hitting the rock hard shattering it into thousands of pieces. He landed and looked at Vadik for his opinion.

The Drachman sneered slightly "You think that's good enough? When we are done shaping you up I want you dodging bullets like they aren't even moving, I can do that and so will you."

Envy's face went red with indignation and he stomped his feet "I can dodge a fucking bullet!"

Vadik was suddenly a blur and Envy felt a sharp pain on his forehead before he looked to see the alchemagiyan was back where he was initially. Envy touched his forehead to feel blood trickling down in like water.

"No you can't, that was me moving as fast as a bullet."

The Homunculus growled slightly before wiping the blood from his head "Ok, maybe not yet, but I can dodge these rocks easily enough."

Vadik appeared to be willing to let him have that at least, because the Drachman gave a slight nod before once again stroking his beard in thought as if he were some form of philosopher. Envy had noticed that the man did this obsessively, the guy looked like he was in his sixties but was he was like Wrath, age hadn't caused him to slow that much yet.

"I suppose, you are making some progress at the very least, I am throwing the rocks just below the speed necessary to break the sound barrier. By the end of this week I think we will have a stripper who can move faster than sound."

Vadik enjoyed calling Envy that, and it pissed the Homunculus off. Who did he think he was? Envy had decency, and he wasn't like Lust who had shown off her figure like some harlot at the corner of an alley. And that was not even bringing up the fact that he was pretty sure she enjoyed being looked at in that way.

Besides she had fucked humans all the time when she was alive, you don't go around as a living incarnation of lust without constantly having an itch to scratch. He had never done that; he would never sully himself by touching the pests in any other way than one that brought pain. He could never understand his sister's desire to lower herself and have those creatures run their hands over her flesh.

That was beside the point; he was going to throttle this human in the future for demeaning him in such a way.

It would be a long time in the future at this rate.

Envy began stretching his arms slightly and glared at the Drachman icily "How the hell are you so fucking strong anyways? You are leagues above any alchemist I have ever fought."

Vadik snorted slightly "I am not an alchemist, I am an Alchemagiyan and not just any either. I am a former Imperial Alchemagiyan of the His most Imperial Czar's Alchemagiya Corps."

"That meant to mean something?"

The old man went crimson in the face "Yes, you disrespectful whelp. Unlike State Alchemagiyans or State Alchemists we are made to be powerhouses of raw energy. When Drachma began to fall behind technologically his Majesty Czar Ivan the Great elected to begin a training programme in which infants who appeared to have an affinity for Alchemy would be taken from their parents and trained to be Alchemagiyans. This process began hundreds of years ago."

Envy grinned slightly "Typical humans, you hate each other so much that you begin training your kids to kill each other. And right from birth as well."

A fleeting look of sadness passed over the man's eyes before the calm fog returned to him and he cleared his throat "Regardless of your views on it when the practice began some four hundred years ago it made Drachma into a powerhouse and led to our expansion up to Amestris' borders. The most famous example of an Imperial Alchemagiyan would have been "The Monster of the North" as he was called."

Envy licked his lips in thought before deciding to interrogate further "And this, uh, "Monster of the North? Just how powerful was he?"

The Drachman gave him a look for a second before answering "He was so powerful that he alone was the reason Drachma was able to survive the third border conflict with Amestris. They were giving us quite the kicking, but he turned it all back. Supposedly strong enough to take on an army, albeit that was what I have been told."

Vadik broke a piece of bread from the knapsack he had brought and threw a piece to Envy. The Homunculus did not really need to eat, but it staved off boredom. It was a habit now.

Envy had noticed that the man got weary after every session, human bodies were frail and they were very easily broken or torn like paper. He would know, he had tested it.

"So what happened to this guy?" asked Envy as he sat down himself in the spot he was standing folding his knees in his preferred way.

"After the war ended he disappeared, no one knows where, it was at least sixty to seventy years ago now, and he is probably dead."

Envy grimaced slightly; he was not going to lie the opportunity of getting someone who, according to some anyway, turned around a war by himself to teach him was enticing. But the man was dead now. He had a higher chance of reaching the end of a rainbow and finding those little green fuckers from Amestrian folklore than he did of meeting that man.

"Oh well, so you served in the war as well?"

The Alchemagiyan smirked "But of course, you don't become this powerful without having an opportunity to test your skills. I honed my own at skirmishes such as the Battle of Beloregorod or the siege of Stavrogorsk. It was a war that spanned ten years so there were plenty of opportunities for me to test my mettle."

Envy could vaguely remember there being a conflict between Amestris and Drachma but it was in the back of his head, the most recent one was a blur to him. When you had lived as long as he did, ten years was really not that much. Besides, the insects were only culling themselves; it was not worth him paying attention to it.

"You know it is kinda ironic that you Drachmans rely on quantity over quality and yet your Imperial Alchemagiyans are so much stronger than State Alchemists."

Vadik nodded "Perhaps, but no Alchemist is truly immortal. Quality is a quantity all of its own. An Imperial Alchemagiyan could be worth five State Alchemists, but they outnumbered us Alchemist wise ten to one. We can be felled by a bullet, being faster than one wasn't exactly common then. Even so it is one thing dodging hundreds of bullets, but dodging thousands or even hundreds of thousands? Shrapnel was always a pain to avoid because there was so much of it and it was everywhere. We were losing until the Czar of the North came and even he in all of his power only held the armies at bay."

This was interesting Envy, if the Drachmans had already seen the power of Alchemists on the battlefield then why did they choose to attack only a few weeks ago.

"So you guys know how dangerous Amestris is, that sure didn't stop you and your armies trying to invade Amestris before they got their asses beaten like spoilt brats. What kind of retarded though process guided this." Envy asked biting into his bread and ripping it apart savagely

Vadik sighed "You eat like an animal, show some courtesy. Not even the peasants down in the village eat like this."

Envy made a face sticking out his tongue before nodding "Fine I will eat like a human." He began chewing before opening his mouth with food still in it "So why did your country attack?"

The former soldier grimaced before correcting him "Our country, you will be serving it in time. As for why we attacked, it is because the current Czar is a child in men's clothing. He lacks experience or good council, all he cares about is that he gets his wine and women. He believes that Drachma is destined to defeat Amestris in combat, and he has been building up the military for decades to achieve this."

He frowned as he bit into his own piece of bred swallowing the food before continuing "Unfortunately the current Czar is not from the same family that I served under, there was a succession crisis and a brief civil war over it before the current Czar's father won and came to the throne. The officers and commanders of the military never really accepted him, so he had them all killed and their books on strategy burned as they were felt to be "politically unacceptable". Suffice it to say officers are picked for loyalty now, not tactical prowess which makes our army the laughing stock of the world. I doubt we could even engage a pebble without a loss of life."

The rocks to the left of Envy were broken in a burst of fury of the alchemagiyan and the Homunculus jumped slightly. The personification of jealousy snarled "Hey watch it, I ain't your Czar."

The man took no notice "And the Imperial Alchemagiyans were all purged."

"Not you it seems."

"Why the hell do you think I live on top of a mountain in sub-zero temperatures?"

Envy nodded before putting up his finger in an interjecting fashion "But the villagers seem to know you do Alchemagiya."

"I said the Imperial Alchemagiyans, not the regular and pitiful ones. Besides when you can destroy their village by sneezing they tend to play nice, the only reason they told you was because you were one person and an outlander."

There was a smirk from the green haired man "Oh, that's kinda brutal. You humans are so fun to watch, one minute you are all loving and shit the next you are writhing in the dirt trying to kill each other."

"You aren't so different."

Envy's face was crimson "What the hell did you say to me?"

The Homunculus shot up and got into a fighting stance "You wanna fucking go?"

Vadik sighed; at least the Homunclus had picked up his fighting tips. He straightened his back as his body groaned in protest. He was getting too old for this shit.

Envy stood up and lunged and immediately felt himself being planted into the ground tasting blood and feeling a snap. He held his nose and growled whilst writhing on the ground in pain "Fuck's sake! Why my nose?"

"A few injuries here and there keep you on your toes."

"Why my fucking nose?"

"I felt like it." answered the Drachman manipulating the wind to grip the Homunculus nose again grabbing ever corner or edge. He then willed it back into place.

A yelp escaped Envy before he narrowed his eyes and growled "I fucking hate you."

"Yes but you are alive to do so, I could have done that to your neck."

The Homunculus stood up and smirked before gripping his neck and twisting it viciously to the side bringing it to an unnatural angle before screwing it back into place like the cap of a bottle. He crossed his arms in victory.

Vadik pinched the bridge of his nose "Didn't you say that you have to use the souls in your Philosopher Stone's souls to heal that kind of damage?"

Envy blanched before swearing quietly under his breath at the stupidity of his decision. Thinking things through had never really been his strong suit.

Vadik looked at the Homunculus in curiosity "Say Envy, how were you made anyways?"

"When a mommy Homunculus and a daddy Homunculus love each other very much… nothing happens. The original Homunculus, my father, transfers the essence of one of his sins and gives it life. The end."

The Drachman pulled out a journal and began scribbling down notes "And how were you created exactly, what process was involved."

The creature began thinking to itself "Well it was different for each Homunculus I suppose. I was created on the ground from whatever materials Father transmuted to make me, but I remember Gluttony growing from Father and being born. He was kind of like a tumour. Why do you care?"

"I am curious because your creation of artificial humans-" began Vadik before being cut off.

"I am not a fucking human!" shouted Envy hitting his fist into the ground and creating a small crater.

The Drachman took no notice and continued "-is very advanced, and seemed to come naturally to your father. I have met artificial beings like you before and even created one myself but none are quite like you or what your siblings were like."

"That's simple human, my father was far more powerful than you worms could ever imagine. Of course we were advanced, he was better than everyone else on this planet."

Vadik tapped his chin in thought before nodding "I will have to look into it, but perhaps your father being a Homunculus made it easy for him to create his own children."

The Drachman willed the wind to straighten Envy's stance who was slouching slightly whilst staring at him. They would fight again to improve the budding Alchemagiyan.

As Envy noticed the wind forcing him up and got ready to fight he was thinking about what the Alchemagiyan had said. If Father had been able to create Homunculi well because he was one. That could mean one thing.

Could Envy do the same?

* * *

So I have dropped some hints as to what route Envy will be going, and the next chapters will be focusing on him and developing him in this kind of brave new world, I don't have really much else to say. Remember if you feel like it leave a review I always appreciate it.


	6. Genesis

The light of the torch barely illuminated the inside of the cave, with the darkness obscuring the inner depths of the cave. Two figures were hunched over the torch.

Envy blinked before rubbing his eyes wearily.

"So, explain what we are doing again?"

"I am helping you create a Homunculus. Have been for two months now, I am checking that I did not screw anything up." muttered Vadik, absorbed into the words littering the pages of the book. He hated reading in general, but he was a bit shady on creating life and other such things, it had been a while, so he would put that hatred to the side for now. He turned away from the book and looked at Envy "You are sitting with your thumb up your ass."

"Fuck off."

Envy uncrossed his legs getting up from his preferred position and leaning over Vadik's shoulder "That book says how to create a Chimera, not a Homunculus. I am far beyond a chimera. It won't work."

Vadik did not turn to look at him but answered "It is worth a shot, we are capable of bonding Chimeras with Humans as you know. Besides we have the body. I am just checking that everything is in order."

Envy yawned "And you need me why?"

"I need you to actually bring it to life."

The Homunculus nodded before sitting back down folding his legs, he bit his tongue in thought, before shaking his head in complete confusion. He did not know how to make a Homunculus, trying to get him to do it was like trying to get blood from stone. It was pointless, an exercise in futility. A big fucking waste of time. Luckily Vadik had laid the ground work, only problem was that Envy could not understand why he had to bring it to life. Why could the Alchemagiyan not do it himself?

Envy growled "I could be improving my abilities right now, but no, we have to try and see if I can make another Homunculus."

The Drachman sighed "It has been six months Envy; you have gone from not being able to lift a rock the size of my fist easily to launching boulders using your command of the wind. You have gone from not being able to dodge me hitting you at less than the speed of sound to easily being able to dodge bullets after they have left a gun. You have gone from being a disgrace to a passable fighter. Your Alchemagiya can wait for a while."

It was better left unsaid for now, but the elder Alchemagiyan had much interest in where this Homunculus would go. On the battlefield he had encountered so called "human-chimera" and even made a few, officially outlawed yes, but on the battlefield in a war where law was meaningless? The hulking abominations were deployed clandestinely yet brazenly, and were written off by both sides as being very strong alchemists or very intelligent chimeras depending on how animalistic they looked. The explanation would not fool a five year old during peace but in a war when your humanity was stripped away regardless? When rape, torture and murder were common? When you could bayonet children and no one would say anything? People would buy it then.

Only so much could be done to a human body, it had its limits ultimately, a point at which the trauma was too much. When the human-chimera was made it had already endured the peak of a human's tolerance for modification, any more meddling with their genome and anything from total organ failure to them liquefying on the bed like a block of ice in the hot sun could happen. Neither were pretty. With the Homunculus however? It was from scratch, and its regenerative capabilities would hopefully help it survive with its gifts. Finally he had gained this burst of inspiration that would let him succeed where he had failed all those years ago.

He would have never been able to do this without Envy, but something about the Homunculus allowed for them to create more. It just worked according to the oddly clothed man talk about his father; Vadik hoped it would work the same in this case.

The book closed suddenly and icy blue gems focused on Envy reminding the Homunculus of the pecking order "You agreed in the first place."

"Why do you want to create a Homunculus anyways? What makes it so interesting to you?" queried Envy frowning at the Drachman's rebuttal. He was getting stronger, but as far as countering alchemy went he still had not learned to combat fellow users of alchemy only to improve his own attacks. He knew for a fact being stronger did nothing when your opponent can attack you without a worry of it being countered. Case in point: Mustang.

He was also a bit nervous about this new Homunculus; it was by all rights his son. The Drachman had shaped it, but ultimately Envy himself had to blow life into it. It was composed of bits of him. He still had not gotten over losing his siblings and father. Was going from one family to the next going to fix this or just help him ignore it? He did not know.

"The desire to improve is overpowering Envy."

Vadik got up, and went deeper into the cave, taking the torch with him. Envy swore in annoyance but followed, the Imperial Alchemagiyan could go from a rude asshole to a wizened sage in a space of seconds, but no matter what everything he did seemed to have a reason behind it. Vadik had gotten him this far.

As they walked down the hallway carved out of rock, Envy began to notice a red glow down the hallway.

"What is this, a Volcano?" joked Envy as he lazily strolled beside Vadik, stretching his arms behind his head. Vadik had constructed it mostly in privacy from him, and Envy had found little time to go see it. Every waking moment, so basically all the time considering sleep was a leisure for him not a necessity, he trained his alchemagiya. Whatever it looked like was going to be new to him; he had never been here before.

"Yes."

Envy nodded and smiled "Shit, really? I have never seen the inside of a Volcano."

Vadik looked at him and noticed the slight quiver in the Homunculi's grin; it was like a small ripple on water, hard to see but ultimately there. He had already guessed from previous exercises that Envy had developed an _aversion_ to fire and anything heat related in general. He would have to beat that out of him, but then again he was aware that in combat certain things were hard to forget. He had plenty of scars both physical and mental.

Once they had reached the pinnacle of their journey, Envy noticed that apart from the crimson glow of the magma and bubbling of the caldera, it was actually rather peaceful in here. But there was a kind of strange walkway cut around the caldera itself, kind of like a little alcove or room cut into it. Interesting at the very least, but ultimately he did not get it. He could see all forms of apparatus and equipment strewn around the area. Wires and tubing, strange books and scraps of paper strewn across the floor and vials and flasks filled with unknown liquids.

Vadik coughed lightly and continued walking whilst gesturing to space around him "This is my workshop, everything I make comes from here."

Envy nervously looked around, he could hear the bubbling of the magma below and the sizzling as stone melted like plastic slowly trailing towards the molten rock below. He was not scared of anything, but he was unnerved around fire. No, _cautious_ was a better way of putting it.

Vadik pointed to a large glass tube far larger than the both of them combined, and to the creature inside suspended within the fluid that nurtured it.

Envy took one look at the thing before shaking his head in disbelief "That is not a fucking Homunculus."

The creature was huge, the thing was hunched over in its container and Envy was certain that even then the thing would stand only a few inches below Sloth if he raised it head he was sure they were on par. It was a strange mixture of a lithe form and pure muscle, optimal almost as if it were created in such a fashioned to be the best of both worlds. Vadik had fashioned this thing to intimidate with a silver finish to boot.

Its face was skull-like, a visage of death, with teeth the size of steak knives and eyes burning an ethereal orange like the magma in the Volcano. Its eyes hauntingly stared from the creature's skull burning with rage or something else. The skeletal appearance was complimented with bone that resembled metallic armour. Its skin rippled and bulged with muscles that looked as if they were ready to burst. Six claws, that were fashioned to rip through steel and concrete like wet paper but also capable of grasping and holding things with dual opposable thumbs that would help its dexterity, also were incorporated into the design.

"Beautiful isn't he?" commented Vadik rapping on the glass. He smirked with an indiscernible hint of childish pride "It may not look like a typical Homunculus, but I promise you that this is worthy to be called one. I have made him out of the best traits I could find, composing him to create a superior being."

"Is he better than me?" asked Envy, with a low undertone of threat. This Homunculus was playing by his rules, not their own. He would kill him now if he even thought that his son would threaten him.

The Drachman shook his head grimly "I am not stupid, this thing might be feral when we let him out. He does not have the ability to use Alchemagiya as far as I can tell; I went out of the way to remove it from him. Try to feel him."

The envious Homunculus nodded before reaching out to detect the creature, a useful skill he had learned from his alchemagiyan master, but he could only feel an absence. A wound almost, even people who did not do alchemy had a feeling, this thing did not.

Envy gasped as he felt drained, before he fell to a knee groaning in pain.

"What's wrong!" barked Vadik dropping beside him.

Envy couldn't speak for the pain was unbearable, he tried to form words but it was being torn from him. The sensation of something being torn from him was unmistakable; he knew what the creature was doing. He had accidentally begun to give it the power to come to life, and the new-born was taking the power necessary to do so.

From him.

"The s-stones!" gasped Envy "He is stealing my souls."

Vadik was on to it in an instance, going to his supplies to get some of the Philosopher's Stones and trying to heal Envy. He would have to force feed the Homunculi. He was not allowing his student to die here.

The creature began to stir, an imperceptible growl uttering a harsh and heavy bass that was deathly quiet and yet drowned out all else.

Envy was glad of Vadik himself restocking him, but his son was consuming his souls at an insane rate. The creature had already taken Envy's original 50 souls, and was now reaching into the hundreds that the Drachman was feeding his father to gain sustenance. The monster was not just eating, he was enveloping. Everything that was in the Homunculus could get was being eaten.

The Imperial Alchemagiyan stared in worry, he knew he did not have many stones to spare, and at this rate he was certain Envy would die. The creature was meant to bond to Envy and use his power to become sentient, but now it seemed as if he were intent on draining the Homunculus dry.

Hundreds of souls had gone, and Envy could still feel the pull, but as he resigned himself to the inevitable, it stopped.

He looked up to see the eyes of brimstone and hellfire staring at him in interest. The creature's mouth was open and inside he could see only the same ethereal glow as given out by own eyes. The liquid around the giant was boiling.

The mouth closed with the steak knives that were its teeth fitting together in a snug fit; however the gleam and wicked sharpness did not do anything to make him feel at home.

The behemoth was alive.

And he was quiet.

Envy felt grateful for the souls Vadik was pumping into him, and he readied himself into a combat stance. The Imperial Alchemagiyan did the same.

The glass barrier ceased to exist around the leviathan as both the glass and the water evaporated. A great clawed foot crushed the rock beneath it into a fine dust forming a crater, out came a screech and Homunculus flexed his muscles for the first time testing his capabilities. Power radiated from every movement he made.

The personification of jealousy stared warily before moving forward "Do you understand me?"

The massive Homunculus turned to Envy, and it was at that point he got a feel for its size. His son was at least nine feet tall. This thing was not even done growing yet if he and his siblings were anything to go by.

" _Father?"_

Envy blinked in surprise, what the hell was that? He looked at the creature which stared, in an expectant manner. Was it capable of communicating with him telepathically? He did not even know that was possible.

"Vadik is this thing psychic?" asked Envy focusing his eyes on it.

"I do not know some of its traits are a mystery even to me. I gave it some things for certain, but mind-reading was not one of them." commented the Drachman, he was glad to see that the Homunculus could move, and it appeared to already show useful qualities, but he was feeling the strangling sensation of dread staring at it. However he would push that aside, he had finally succeeded in creating what he had always wanted. A being bred for fighting and more importantly… winning.

The creature turned and looked at Vadik, and blinked slowly as it inspected the human. The enhanced eyes inspected and tested the human standing before it in a fraction of a second, taking into account the alchemagiyan's strength, size and stance. He appreciated the material, looking for areas of strength, or weaknesses to exploit. The information streamed into his brain as Vadik's imperfections were laid bare before the new-born Homunculi with data being understood and appreciated instinctively, the human sized him up as if he were a piece of flesh.

The mammoth slowly trudged over to Envy and as he smelled the air around him let out a pleased grunt, before calmly moving past him and staring at the Drachman once more. A forked tongue escaped the creature's maw as the air was tasted around the Drachman, before the coming of fervent shaking of the head in a rapid and confused manner. The other being did not smell the same.

The creature's claws flexed suddenly and with a snarl he brought them down towards Vadik at a speed faster than lightning.

The Drachman's eyes widened, but he dodged in the nick of time, barely avoiding the creatures' powerful slash which tore the stone beneath them with the utmost ease. He pulled back a dozen or so meters to look at it, but the rogue Homunculus did not falter immediately reassuming the offensive it had launched with silent efficiency appearing to teleport to a meter from him before moving its arm once more and swinging its deadly claws towards the man with the intention of carving him in two.

"Envy help me!" yelled Vadik as he dodged his unnatural assailant which was continuing its silent attack. The Imperial Alchemagiyan was certain he could put down the creature but it was blindingly fast, he needed time to attack it.

Envy was swift, running forward raising his fist with the power that ground concrete into dust. He used his alchemagiya to amplify his speed and hoped that the momentum would work in his favour. He was moving faster than a bullet, painful for him because of the way it worked, but the power should make up for it. Brute force incarnate.

With a boom the overwhelming earthquake of raw power made contact with the flesh of the homunculus. A shockwave resonated within the room. Envy had shattered boulders bigger than a house by doing this.

The creature turned to face his father and cocked his head in confusion. The Homunculus seemed completely unaware that he had just been hit, and if Envy was not looking at the bleeding stump where his hand used to be he would be, there would be no indication he had even touched the creature.

"Oh shit."

The creature nonchalantly looked at its Father before frowning at Envy's injuries. It grabbed Envy and sat him against a wall forcing him to lie back.

It left the smaller Homunculi before once again appearing in front of the Drachman in a flash of speed. As it, with clockwork efficiency and consistency, brought down its talons, Vadik responded with a torrent of his power, the wind fashioning itself into a blade for him and slicing his marauder with extreme prejudice.

He swore as he saw the creature once again absorb the blow with no sign it had been hurt, he would have to do something radical.

Gripping the creature with invisible hands made of air Vadik put his back into it and rag dolled the creature noting its immense weight before raking the creature across the wall in an ugly fashion, the jagged stone scraping across the monster's path as it continued its trek of the rock face. It was then ripped out of it and slammed to the ground below in a devastating manner crushing the rock into dust and cracking the stone around.

The creature lay down for a second in shock before it got up and snarled as it showed again no damage, although it now seemed wary of the Drachman's prowess. Its eyes glowed strangely and it suddenly began to stare at the air in a curious manner.

The Alchemagiyan brought up the wind yet again to rend the Homunculi limb from limb, only for it to dodge his attacks effortlessly dodging them as if it was but water that faced the creature.

" _Damn, how the hell did it do that?" thought the Drachman internally._

He let out a blitz of attacks the wind seeking to ravage the creature from every area, not side or crevice left unattended. He would hit a weak spot somewhere, he could manipulate the wind through meters of steel casually, the creature would not be so lucky. Nothing was totally impervious to damage, surely there was bound to be an imperfection somewhere in his design.

The intangible spear found its mark, a single area near the connection between its arm and torso, and sank into the flesh like a hot knife through butter. The creature roared in pain as it futilely tried to wrench the unearthly blade from its hide; of course touching wind was easier said than done.

The creature's eyes glowed slightly, and its hand appeared to change colour for a second before it reached down again and grabbed the wind blade to Vadik's brazen astonishment. It somehow forcibly removed the intrusion, before the wound heal itself completely and the creature's body shimmered.

Vadik brought a second blade down and the monster did not respond instead still holding this other tendril of air in an impossibly fashion. It mattered little because even though he hit the same area, it did absolutely nothing this time. It was as he feared.

The creature was adapting to his attacks.

"Fuck!"

The Alchemagiyan ducked yet another blow, and twisted to avoid the hit coming to meet him, decades of combat experience meshing perfectly with his alchemagiya. He hoped he could do this.

The Drachman aimed true, becoming one with the wind to propel him towards the silver abomination. He was there suddenly and gripped the creature's arm before beginning the process. The hot breath washed over his face, and the Drachman did not even need to guess to know that his face was being scalded by the heat.

Alchemical deconstruction, it was his only hope. He would atomise it from the inside, pulling apart the fibre of its being to destroy it, it was a an exhausting process and he could not completely atomise him before he would undoubtedly get skewered, but if he could hurt it bad then maybe it would back off for a second.

The raw energy began to flow attacking the cells and atoms pulling bonds apart as the arm in its most core form began to crumple into powder. A confused roar met the Drachman before the remaining hand slapped him away like a fly. The Homunculi stared at the non-existent arm in confusion.

Vadik gave it a massive push with the wind whilst he knew that its clarity was clouded, launching the creature into the caldera and, therefore, the bubbling magma below.

Envy's hand finally regenerated and he got up, looking at his teacher he could not help but mock him and he smirked slightly "What happened to him being weaker than me?"

"Fuck off Envy." muttered the teacher who took a breather and held his sides, he was too old for this nonsense.

The Homunculus laughed before groaning in pain once more, he could still regenerate, but it was going to be slow for a while because he had so much to heal and some of it was delicate work. The shock of the force suddenly stopping had caused it to reflect back into him and he was fairly certain that all of his bones were broken, dogged determination and Homunculi pain tolerance let him get up though so he had that going for him. Too many souls would be wasted doing it quickly; perhaps time was a better healer than his own regeneration. He would have to figure out how to stop that happening in the future.

Envy stared at the edge of the caldera, and started trying to move again before a clawed hand gripped the rock and the rogue Homunculus pulled itself up coated in a sheet of magma that dripped off it. The superheated rock was like water to it, with no effect apparent. Its atomised arm already regrown and looking as good as new.

"You have got to be fucking kidding." muttered Envy as the creature shook itself slightly before looking at Vadik.

It wandered over to the Drachman who gazed at it grimly; there was absolutely no stopping it conventionally. Had he underestimated how much strength it had? Or had he overestimated how strong he was now compared to when he was in his prime? He was going to kill himself doing this.

The talons descended slowly, but as Vadik went to dodge again it suddenly shot out far faster than before, with the creature's iron grip lifting him by his throat to eye level with it. It raised its other hand to end him. A combination of exhaustion and the creature's increased speed proved to be defeating. He was caught now.

Vadik tried to atomise it, but as his hand gripped the creature's talons what he feared was confirmed. The creature's atoms were not moving this time. Yet another adaptation.

The claws roared downwards towards the man's neck and the Drachman closed his eyes in resignation.

"Stop now!" commanded Envy stepping forward and holding himself steady, his impressive physical strength holding the creature arm back and prepared for more combat.

The creature's death strike halted immediately and he dropped Vadik.

" _As you wish Father."_

Envy stared in confusion as the creature immediately rushed to his side and kneeled before him. The creature's imposing nine feet became a much more manageable six as on its knees it looked at its father with curiosity.

" _What is your desire?"_

The elder Homunculus decided to go with it, lest he irritate him and make him aggressive again. He snarled in displeasure "Stop doing that, speak normally. I do not want you in my head!"

The creature's eyes widened slightly before he sharply nodded. He opened his mouth, but a dry and hoarse sound was all the escaped. The new born growled softly before trying to speak again, with only the same result.

Envy frowned "Well, I guess you can't speak huh? We will have to teach you."

The younger Homunculi bared his teeth before gripping the muscled throat and tearing it open casually. It was odd to see it come apart effortlessly when earlier Vadik had failed to dent it.

"What the fuck are you doing!" cried Envy as he went to stop the younger one from doing himself more harm.

The creature pointed to the inside of its throat and neck, and Vadik recognised the problem. He sighed and walked over to it sore from his previous encounter.

"Shit, he does not have vocal cords does he?"

Clawed talons gripped Vadik and pulled him close to their owner, Envy tensed again ready to defend his teacher. This thing was more aggressive than Wrath, Pride and himself combined.

The ruinous eyes began to glow impossibly bright, and Vadik felt hot, well hotter than he was from being close to the caldera of a volcano, as the creatures eyes trailed down his body.

Inside the gaping wound of its neck, tissue began to shift and grow as organic wiring appeared at a rapid rate. Such was the rapidness of the actions that steam began to escape the wound as the blood in it simmered.

"Interesting." muttered Vadik still gripped by the creature, he understood completely what it was doing "You scanned me, and you figured out what my vocal cords were, and now you are replicating them."

"Yes." growled the beast in an impossible bass voice, the wound zoomed shut without a trace of injury and it unceremoniously dropped the Drachman on the ground rising to its full height again.

Envy frowned "Why did you attack him?"

The creature turned to face its father "Threat." He snarled slightly in displeasure as he appreciated Envy's wounds "Sorry."

The elder Homunculus made his displeasure apparent "You won't do that again understand? He is a friend!"

The creature suddenly cocked his head to one side like a confused pup "Define."

Envy sighed, this could take a while.

* * *

Three months had passed since the creature had come to live with them, he was physically bigger now, and was still growing. His son had reached the twelve foot mark around a few days ago, and his litheness was retreating for a more bulky but muscled design. Despite this massive gain in weight and size he somehow moved faster. Logic need not apply when alchemy was involved it would seem.

The young Homunculi had been limited vocabulary wise at first, a mixture of a lack of knowledge and having to learn how to imitate certain sounds until they became its own. His personal lexicon was expanded by his psychic powers, which Envy knew he used occasionally to gleam knowledge and words from the Chaykorkutans below.

This led to the interesting situation in that it spoke in Drachman and Chaykorkutan but not Amestrian. Envy knew that could be problematic in the future, but fuck if he was letting that thing in his mind at all, he knew for a fact that his son ripped thoughts and knowledge from the villagers below as if it was just its own personal library.

Although the village was also a buffet to him as well.

Case in point, the creature was currently dragging a struggling bull with one hand across to him, the one ton bovine was putting up a valiant effort but the being it was fighting against did not consider one ton to be heavy. The leviathan's hook like talons had dug into the creature's skull already just shy of the brain, the Homunculi was dragging to bull by his claws basically.

The elder Homunculi sighed from his sitting position around the fire "I take it you were hungry?"

The creature nodded and suddenly wrenched the bull before its father and clenching its claws with finality. The blades pierced bull's brain and ended its suffering, the hooks departed the skull as the creature left it in front of its patriarch "Yes, eat your fill father."

Envy did not actually need to eat, neither did his child need to from what he could tell off it, but the creature apparently enjoyed the taste and the thrill of the hunt. Vadik had advised his student that he should always eat first when the younger Homunculi came round, a way of showing his dominance, and indeed the Drachman ate before even Envy himself to make sure they did not have repeats of the original encounter.

With childlike ease the personification of jealousy tore a leg from the bull and took a bloody bite from it before beginning to roast it over the fire. He did not like to delay the child's dinner. He was reminded of Gluttony in a way by it, and whilst when he had been with him he had often criticise his brother's eating habits and would deliberately delay him eating for fun things were different.

He would give anything to see his brother now.

Envy sighed in thought as he stared at the creature who dug its hand into the bull and began to eat everything ripping and tearing flesh from bone with a gruesome efficiency, the creature was somewhat growing on him. He reminded Envy of his precious chimeras.

"You need a name you know?" muttered the elder as he stared at the fire thoughtfully.

The creature looked up his mouth full of gore, and entrails hanging out. A sharp look from his father told him to smarten up as he swallowed and then spoke "I would like one."

Envy scratched his head in thought "My father named us after the seven deadly sins." He looked at his child who paid him rapt attention "But I do not think you really embody one particular sin, and I don't want to replace my family by naming you after a sin."

The creature nodded in understanding as he took a shard of bone and crunched it between his teeth. He pulled up another massive bone and brought it towards his mouth.

Envy frowned "Fucking Mustang, if he had not killed Lust she would know what to name you."

The bone suddenly snapped and the white faced death rose up and bared himself in an aggressive faction "Mustang!"

The bull's torn corpse was lifted up and in a burst of anger the corpse was ripped down the middle sending both halves to opposite sides of the room smacking the walls with a sickening splat.

Envy let out an impressed whistle "You gleaned that from me when you were born huh? And you remembered that name for three months? I think you inherited some of my hate for the fuck."

Envy stood up and smirked slightly and made his way over "You are going to be called Hatred from now on." He gave the creature a pat on the arm "You and I are going to tear Mustang apart."


End file.
